Ararat Rural City Council is pleased to offer a new recycling initiative to the community, aimed at reducing landfill waste and promoting environmental sustainability.
In partnership with Recycle Care Australia, Council is introducing conveniently located clothing donation bins, providing residents with an option to donate unwanted clothing responsibly, ensuring these items are diverted from regular kerbside collection and landfill.
Donations can be made free of charge via the blue clothing donation bins located near the Ararat Resource Recovery Centre (Transfer Station) entrance during usual operating hours. Accepted items include unwanted clothes, shoes, fashion accessories, and bags. Batteries, toys, books and hard objects cannot be accepted.
Donated items will be collected from the donation bins by Recycle Care Australia and carefully inspected to ensure that they can be donated or repurposed efficiently and ethically, aiming to utilise every donated item fully and minimise waste.
Approximately 5% of donations that are deemed retail-quality will go to Australian charities and op-shops. Majority of the remaining clothing is exported to socially and environmentally responsible facilities for further sorting.
Around 70% of the exported items that are of sufficient quality for reuse are distributed to developing countries. The exported clothing that is deemed unwearable is downcycled into industrial cleaning cloths.
Items with upcycling potential, like wool, are processed into new clothing or goods like quilts. The exported items that cannot be reused or recycled are converted into biofuels.
"We're committed to working with our community to achieve more environmentally friendly waste management outcomes," says Ararat Rural City Council CEO, Dr Tim Harrison.
"Through this initiative, we are empowering our community to participate in a circular economy by diverting reusable textiles from landfill and giving them a new life."
