Each American discards about 68 pounds of used clothing per year. Only 15% of discarded clothing is recycled, with the rest going to landfills. Recycling 50,000 tons of used clothing saves 103 billion gallons of water and prevents the release of carbon dioxide equivalent to taking nearly 23,000 cars off the road annually. Collecting and reusing used clothing provides economic and environmental benefits both in the US and in developing countries where the clothing is sold.

1. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress
USED CLOTHING
COLLECTION,
REUSE &
RECYCLING &
IMPACT
2008

2. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress
1. How many pounds of clothing, shoes and textiles does each person in
the USA throw out each year?
A. 39 lb B. 68 lb C. 94 lb
2. How many percent of the discarded clothing, shoes and textiles are
collected and recycled?
A. 15% B. 27% C. 36%
3. How many gallons of water are saved by recycling 50,000 tons of
clothing?
A. 103 billion B. 147 million C. 845,000
4. How much CO2 is not released in to the atmosphere by recycling
50,000 tons of clothing? Equivalent to taking X cars of the road for one
year:
A. 234 cars B. 156,680 cars C. 22,803 cars

3. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress
How many pounds of clothing, shoes and textiles do you think
that each person in the USA discard of during a year?
A. 39 pounds
B. 68 pounds
C. 94 pounds
68pounds

4. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress
The US population, discard
11.8 million tons of clothing, shoes and textiles per year
(according EPA).

5. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress
With a per ton cost of $83, it would cost our cities and towns
$980 million (or just about $1 billion) to transport,
landfill and incinerate all the discarded clothing.
Luckily, the nation is full of non-profits, churches and rag dealers
who collect and recycle a large portion of the 11.8 million tons,
right?
Well, that is not entirely correct!
Only 15.3% of the discarded textiles are recycled according to EPA
15.3%

6. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress
BUT, due to the low recycling level of used clothing,
our municipalities and tax payers pick up the rest of
the tab; $830 million.
AND the negative environmental problem continues
AND recoverable resources are being wasted!
This means that used clothing collectors
like Planet Aid, Goodwill, Salvation Army,
etc. divert 1.8 million tons from the MSW
and save the communities $149 million.

7. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress
Textile recovery is less developed than other
recycling of other materials (2006 EPA Report):
Paper 52%
Steel 36%
Glass 22%
Aluminum 21%
Textiles 15%
Plastic 7%

8. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress
" New York City discard 280,000 tons
" Syracuse discard 25,000 tons
" Buffalo discard 39,000 tons
" Rochester discard 37,000 tons
" Albany discard 31,000 tons
The citizens of New York State discard 645,000 tons of textiles annually:
According to NYC Department of Sanitation,
textile, shoes, leather and upholstery constituted
8.1% of the annual MSW. DSNY Annual Report
2006 shows that the department collects
approximately 3.9 million tons of MSW per year.
8,1%, which is clothing, etc. equals 316.000
tons.
DSNY’s number confirms that our estimated
volume of 280,000 tons is conservative and not
inflated.

9. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress

10. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress
" 12,000 collection boxes
" 14 locations in the USA
" 100 million pounds

11. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress
100 million pounds = 50,000 tons
50,000 tons = 2,250 tractor trailers (53’ each)
2,250 tractor trailers = one trailer arriving
and one trailer leaving a Planet Aid location
every hour with 45,000 pounds of clothing
collected from some of the 12,000 boxes
we have.

12. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress
Clothing processed by
Planet Aid is sold in more
than 1,000 thrift stores in
Guatemala.
Planet Aid supplies 5% of
the market in Guatemala.
Approximately 8,000 people
earn their living this way.
A total of 4,500 tons of used
clothing is imported to
Guatemala each month.
It means that 160,000
people in Guatemala work
in the used clothing trade.

13. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress
Planet Aid sells
clothing to a thrift
store chain in
Nova Scotia,
Canada.
250 people have
employment and
income at that
company and the
predominantly
blue collar
population has
access to
inexpensive
clothing.

14. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress
Employment Impact
administration 28
site finders 15
warehouse
workers
28
truckers 79
truck drivers 23
513
26,448
27,244
2
price broker &
client liasion
Planet Aid
Others
Employment
Created
Our Customers
Less- Developed Countries
Total

15. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress
Economic Impact in the USA
$35,000,000
$3,500,000
Economic
Benefits to
Americans
Multiplier effect: contributes
to American economy
Taxpayers save through
reduced trash collection

16. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress
Environmental Impact
103 billion gal.
3.1 million
814,289 lbs.
261 million lbs.
22,803 cars
222 sq. miles
Reducing usage of pesticides
Reducing CO2 emissions
Reducing the need of land for
cotton production
Environmental
Benefits
Saving space in landfills
Saving water
50,000 tons

17. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress
But that is not all…
From the collection and sales of 100 million pounds of used
clothing Planet Aid generates a net profit of approximately $6
million.
The funds are used for development programs in Latin America,
Africa and Asia. More than 2 million people are directly affected.
" Teacher training
" Child Aid and Economic Development in Communities
" Fight HIV/AIDS
" Food Production
" Water Conservation

18. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress

19. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress

20. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress

21. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress

22. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress

23. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress

24. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress
SUMMING UP
" Collecting, reusing and recycling used clothing has a great
economic and environmental impact on communities in the USA
" Selling good quality used clothing for consumption in less
affluent countries and communities has a positive impact on
local economy
" Combining the recycling business of collecting and distributing
used clothing with a charitable mission is an excellent social,
environmental and economic business model for community
development (globally)

25. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress
Your next
clothing-
drop will
make
a
difference.
Thank you
for
Listening!

26. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress
Please contact us to develop your
socially and environmentally conscious
textile recycling.
Planet Aid, Inc.
1 Cross Street
Holliston, MA 01746

27. Recycle Used Clothing for Development and Progress
1. How many pounds of clothing, shoes and textiles deos each person in
the USA throw out each year?
A. 39 lb B. 68 lb C. 94 lb
2. How many percent of the discarded clothing, shoes and textiles are
collected and recycled?
A. 15% B. 27% C. 36%
3. How many gallons of water are saved by recycling 50,000 tons of
clothing?
A. 103 billion B. 147 million C. 845,000
4. How much CO2 is not released in to the atmosphere by recycling
50,000 tons of clothing? Equivalent to taking X cars of the road for one
year:
A. 234 cars B. 156,680 cars C. 22,803 cars