LAWR

TEXTILE REcycLIng Adding value with a dedicated textile recycling scheme for schools The Salvation Army Trading Company (SATCoL) is helping local authorities to in- crease their textile recycling levels through an educational initiative called 'Recycle With Michael'. Head of clothing collection division Tony Hosking explains why it is proving to be a great success. ocal authorities con- tinue to face challeng- es when it comes to meeting recycling tar- gets – including those for textile recycling. Despite increased competition over local authority con- tracts, SATCoL's Clothing Collection Scheme is still one of the largest in the UK, operating over 6,500 cloth- ing banks and delivering over 400,000 door-to-door bags each week. We're maintaining healthy collection levels, with well in excess of 30,000 tonnes of used clothing collected annually in recent years. Profit from the sale of donated tex- tiles is gift-aided to the Salvation Army to help fund its work through- out the UK and Republic of Ireland – including homelessness and addic- tion services, care for the elderly, help at emergency incidents, support for victims of trafficking and a 'Family Tracing Service' which puts people in touch with missing relatives. £29.5m was gift-aided to the Salvation Army between 2010 and the end of 2013 alone. Continued support from local authorities remains a crucial source of textile donations. We've worked with the public sector for over 20 years and regularly meet recycling officers and portfolio holders to discuss ways of working together. We currently work with over 200 local authority partners, and it's important to us to add value to their recycling operations beyond the usual collection services. One way in which we've been help- ing local authorities increase their textile recycling levels is through our dedicated scheme for schools – Recycle With Michael. Designed to increase awareness of textile reuse and recycling from an early age, participating schools are provided with a colourful clothes bank, branded with the fun kid's recy- cling champion, Michael. When the bank is full, SATCoL collectors pick up the donations and the school is rewarded with an amount of money to spend on its own projects, dependent on the weight of donations. Running since November 2012, the scheme is proving to be a great success. 347 schools across the UK have signed up to date, including pre-schools, nurseries, primary and secondary schools, and colleges. Several local authorities are working with SATCoL to encourage schools in their area to participate in the initia- tive. These partnerships are working really well because recycling offic- ers are presented with a ready-made programme to recommend to local schools, and the subsequent feedback from SATCoL on the amount of extra textiles collected can be used towards meeting their recycling targets. Sevenoaks District Council took up the Recycle With Michael baton in March 2013. In an effort to build on the successful provision of several SATCoL clothing banks on council 20 Local Authority Waste & Recycling June 2014 L June 2014 Local Authority Waste & Recycling 21 TEXTILE rEcycLIng recycling sites across the District for more than 15 years, recycling offic- ers extended the reach of their part- nership with SATCoL by contacting all local primary schools to promote the schools scheme. Since then nine schools have signed up and 6,067 kilos of clothing have been donated by schoolchildren and their families in the Sevenoaks District. Participating schools have received over £1,200 in return from SATCoL. The District's recycling team are now targeting secondary schools to encour- age them to follow the example of their junior peers. Manchester City Council launched the Recycle With Michael scheme to schools in the city in May 2013. The Council's Environmental Strategy team liaise directly with primary and secondary schools to introduce the programme, supported by free promo- tional materials from SATCoL. So far 52 schools in Manchester have signed up to participate in the initiative and colourful SATCoL banks have been installed at schools across the city. Between May 2013 and March 2014, 15,212 kilos of cloth- ing was donated by school children in Manchester. In return for their gener- ous efforts, SATCoL has given over £3,000 back to the city's schools, with this figure set to grow as more cloth- ing is donated. More recently, the London Borough of Bexley has come on board with the initiative. The Borough's recycling team are promoting the scheme in their school newsletter that goes out each term, and are excited about help- ing local schools earn extra money and reducing the amount of clothing that goes to landfill. The Recycle With Michael scheme benefits all parties involved: schools gain a fun and practical education programme as well as the opportunity to raise money for their own projects, local authorities see a rise in recycling levels and a reduction in textiles sent to landfill, and remaining profit from the donated textile items is gift-aided to the Salvation Army to help fund a huge number of vital social welfare services adding further value to com- munities throughout the country, and reducing the strain on local authori- ties that are under pressure to make cuts. For more information about the Re- cycle With Michael scheme, contact Vicki Dunlop on 013933 441807 or email schools@satcol.org • Salvation Army Trading Company (SATCoL) is a trading arm of The Salvation Army in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. • The SATCoL was formed in 1991 and operates the Clothing Collection Scheme, which has become one of the largest textile reuse and recycling operations in the UK. SATCoL was established to create jobs, to benefit the environment and, through profitable trading to help fund the Salvation Army's work in the UK. • It operates over 6,500 clothing banks and over 180 charity shops throughout the UK and Republic of Ireland, as well as delivering over 400,000 door-to-door collection bags each week. • The Salvation Army is an international Christian church and registered charity working in 126 countries. Key facts about the Salvation Army Trading Company:

• Cover