The recycling non-profit Return-It launched a new used clothing pilot program on Friday to help Metro Vancouverites give their textiles a second life.
The three-month pilot program will run from March to May at Coquitlam Return-It depot.
“We want to leverage the public’s familiarity and comfort with our trusted depot system,” said President and CEO of Encorp Pacific Allen Langdon in a press release after the program's launch in Yaletown.
“In the spirit of organizing guru Marie Kondo of KonMari, if we help people de-clutter along the way, that’s a bonus!”
Across the Lower Mainland, 40,000 tonnes of textiles end up in a landfill every year, according to Encorp Pacific. That's equal to over 217 million medium cotton t-shirts or about three Brooklyn Bridges.
Together with Bank & Vogue—one of the largest traders of used clothes in North America—the pilot program is being run as a test case to see if Return-It depots across the province can efficiently collect used clothing and shoes.
The announcement comes less than two months after a 34-year-old man was found dead in a clothing bin in West Vancouver. Since then, several municipalities and private organizations across the Lower Mainland have removed or retrofitted the containers due to safety concerns.
In Port Coquitlam, the move affected about two dozen clothing bins owned by Developmental Disabilities, Kinsight, Diabetes Canada and Inclusion BC as well as the Green Inspiration BC, a for-profit recycling business that supports environmental programs, the Boys and Girls Clubs of South Coast BC and BC/Yukon Legion branches.
—with files from Janis Cleugh
