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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

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