Thanks to your support in 2020!

Becoming a Leader in the Textile Recycling Industry

by Textile Waste Diversion Inc.

shutterstock_136777547There are many questions when it comes to textile waste. Some of the things we are asked often include, “How are my clothing donations used and what is done to donations that are unusable?” and, “How are the textiles I donate being recycled?”

While textile waste is not yet included in the legislation, TWD is encouraged by proposed changes in Ontario’s Waste Diversion Act. We are setting in motion some exciting new initiatives that will help us to become an industry leader in textile waste management.

TWD has recently made a commitment to provide a platform for reputable textile waste collectors and the charities they service to come together and agree to fair competition practices and community minded operation standards.

We are also setting a standard for meticulous collection practices with a commitment from our competition to do the same. Ontario has a 25% textile waste diversion rate, and that means there is plenty of work to go around. The better the service commitments we all offer and adhere to, the more property owners like you will be inclined to choose to work with us.

We are putting in place a textile waste auditing system that tracks donations. The system will track usable and unusable textiles, and implement processes to deal with both in an efficient and environmentally conscious way. We will share this process with our industry partners, allowing other collectors to use the same process – so you can feel good about how donations are being used, no matter which certified collector you choose.

We are implementing value added uses for waste textiles that prevent sending any textiles to landfill.

Finally, we have some advice for property owners who may be considering putting a clothing donation bin on their property: Only offer permission to place donation bin to a reputable organization that offers meticulous service. If you find a bin on your property from any collection company or organization that does not have permission to be there, contact TWD at 1-888-980-8756 and we will be happy to remove the bin at no cost to you.

By allowing a reputable company to place a used clothing donation bin on your property, you are helping increase Ontario’s waste diversion rate, reduce landfills, protect groundwater and air all while creating good jobs. Used clothing donations are an important community building block, and on behalf of responsible collectors and charities everywhere, we thank you for your generous ongoing support.

20200

Packaging and trash

Out of every $10 spent buying things, $1 (10%) goes for packaging that is thrown away. Packaging represents about 65% of household trash.

 

Save the trees

If every American recycled just one-tenth of their newspapers, we would save about 25,000,000 trees a year.

 

In the bin!

Used aluminum beverage cans are the most recycled item in the U.S., but other types of aluminum, such as siding, gutters, car components, storm window frames, and lawn furniture can also be recycled.

 

Kiss this!

An estimated 80,000,000 Hershey's Kisses are wrapped each day, using enough aluminum foil to cover over 50 acres of space -- that's almost 40 football fields. All that foil is recyclable, but not many people realize it.

Packaging at the dump

About one-third of an average garbage dump is made up of packaging material!

Glass skyscrapers?

Every month, we throw out enough glass bottles and jars to fill up a giant skyscraper. All of these jars are recyclable!

Plastic bottles by the hour

Americans use 2,500,000 plastic bottles every hour! Most of them are thrown away!

The Sunday paper

To produce each week's Sunday newspapers, 500,000 trees must be cut down.

The aluminum recycling loop

A used aluminum can is recycled and back on the grocery shelf as a new can in as little as 60 days. That's closed loop recycling at its finest!

 

What gets recycled in Canada?

By weight, organics comprise the largest portion, accounting for 22% of recycled materials from all sources, followed by newsprint (17%) and cardboard and boxboard (17%).

Recycling by the Province

While on the rise overall, recycling varies quite widely from province to province. Ontario and Quebec recycle the largest quantities of materials, but the amounts of material recycled per person and the recycling rate are higher in Nova Scotia and British Columbia.

Canadian vs. American residential waste

Canadians produced 366 kg per person of residential waste in 2020; by 2020, this figure had increased to 418 kg per person. By way of comparison, residential waste production by our neighbours in the United States was 440 kg per person in 2020.

   

Canadian waste

In 2020, Canadian households produced 13.4 million tonnes of waste. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of this waste was sent for disposal, according to Statistics Canada’s 2020 Waste Management Survey, while the rest was recycled.

A great reason to recycle!

Landfills produce approximately 25% of Canada’s methane emissions (methane is a powerful greenhouse gas). Recycling, including textile recycling, can help reduce the amount of waste entering landfills and help conserve natural resources.

How much water do ice caps and glaciers hold?

The amount of water locked up in ice and snow is only about 1.7 percent of all water on Earth, but the majority of total freshwater on Earth, about 68.7%, is held in ice caps and glaciers.

How much recyclable material gets thrown away?

Paper is the number one recyclable material that we throw away. For every 100 pounds of trash we throw away, 35 pounds is paper. Americans throw away 25 billion Styrofoam coffee cups every year, 40 billion soft drink cans and bottles every year, and 38 billion plastic bags. Placed end to end, they would reach to the moon and back hundreds of times.

 

How much household waste can be recycled?

Over 80% of typical household waste - including food scraps, yard waste, paper, cardboard, cans, and bottles - can be recycled, reused, or composted.

How much carbon dioxide can a car emit?

On average, a car produces about 170g CO2 per kilometer. If your car travels 2020 kilometers per month, it produces about 340 kilograms CO2 - that's a lot of carbon dioxide!

How much harm can one styrofoam cup do?

A styrofoam cup contains one billion billion CFC molecules - a class of chemical compounds that deplete ozone. Once a CFC molecule reaches the ozone layer, it can take over 100 years before it breaks up and becomes harmless!

How many trees are cut down each year?

In 2020 statistics, primary forest area was reduced globally by 60,000 square km per year (about the size of Ireland). While it's impossible to get an exact count, at a rate of 50K to 100K trees per square km, this equates to 3 to 6 billion trees per year.

Worldwide Metals Production

Between 2020 and 2020, worldwide metals production grew sixfold, oil consumption eightfold, and natural gas consumption 14-fold. In total, 60 billion tons of resources are now extracted annually—about 50% more than just 30 years ago. Today the average European uses 43 kilograms of resources daily, and the average American uses 88 kilograms.