Baw Baw celebrates National Recycling Week with free textile recycling

Published on 03 November 2023

In celebration of of National Recycling Week, Baw Baw Shire Council will host a free textile recycling drop-off day on Saturday 18 November at the Warragul Council Depot.

Delivered in partnership with Upcycle4Better, the free textile recycling day is an easy opportunity for residents to do some spring cleaning and bag up all those unwanted clothes, shoes, bags, soft toys, bed linen and towels and drop them off so they can be reused, repurposed or recycled.

“When textiles are thrown out in general waste bins they end up in landfill and that’s bad for our environment,” says Mayor of Baw Baw Shire Cr Annemarie McCabe. “In 2022, textiles made up approximately 7% of Baw Baw’s garbage bin waste. This event is all about letting people know that unwanted or unused textiles don’t have to go in the bin – they can be recycled, put to good use and kept out of landfill.”

Running from 9am to 1pm at Council’s Depot at 188 Normanby Street, Warragul, the free textile recycling opportunity will be a drive-through style event.

To keep things flowing smoothly, residents are asked to book an hourly drop-off slot by visiting bawbawshire.co/textile-recycling-registration.

Items should be neatly bagged in shopping bags to ensure collection staff are able to lift and move the bags easily (large garbage bags will not be accepted).

Mayor McCabe says the event aims to build on the great efforts many Baw Baw Shire residents are already making.

“Back in June, we installed two permanent textile recycling chutes for people to use all year round – one at Lardner Transfer Station and the other at the Trafalgar Transfer Station. Our community has done a fantastic job of using them so far. In the few months since they were installed, Council has collected 1.6 tonnes of textiles for recycling. That’s 1.6 tonnes of material kept out of landfill. That’s a great start and now we want to push on and do even better. November 18 is all about making it easy for people to give textile recycling a try. It’s free and easy and it’s so much better for the environment.”

Textiles acceptable for drop-off include items of clothing, shoes, underwear, hats, belts, handbags, backpacks, bed linen, towels and soft toys.

Items not accepted include hospital overalls, hotel slippers, face masks and mattresses.

Items should be clean and dry (stains are okay if they are clean). Dirty, mouldy or wet items will not be accepted.

For a full list of items and their eligibility, visit www.bawbawshire.vic.gov.au/Recycling.