The city managed to collect 6.4 tonnes of clothing, hats, towels and other textiles through a new curbside collection program rolled out earlier this spring, successfully recycling the products and keeping them from winding up in the city landfill.
With textiles making up more than 5 per cent of the waste stream at the landfill, the program is part of the city’s broader goal to increase its waste diversion rate to 75 per cent by the end of 2025, up from its current 70 per rate, city staff said.
The free textile collection program ran from May 27-31, carried out by third-party contractor, Recycling Rewards — which operates Talize thrift stores in Barrie and other municipalities — recycling 98 per cent of collected material.
“A 98 per cent diversion rate is a high ratio and shows the benefits of this type of initiative,” said Roger Young, the city’s general manager of environment and infrastructure services. “Other municipalities that have implemented similar programs have found them to be successful and are able to consistently achieve high diversion rates.”
Young said Recycling Rewards was chosen to operate the program because it was “the only service provider that offered a complete curbside collection program” and ability to almost completely recycle the textiles collected.
Through the program, residents were able to put a wide variety of textiles out at their curbs for pick up, including the following:
- Clothing, hats, scarves, undergarments shoes and boots;
- Belts, ties, towels;
- Curtains, scarves, bedding and pillows
Young said the city and Recycling Rewards were pleased with the results of the program, which was carried out at no cost to the city, and anticipate it will grow upon return in the future.
A new waste composition study is set to be carried out this summer, said a staff memo in Friday’s council information package, and a higher collection frequency of textiles may be considered in the future “should staff continue to see a large portion of the curbside waste stream containing textiles.”
“Every tonne of material diverted from the landfill is important. The city has many diversion programs currently in place, all complementing each other to work towards the target,” Young said.
“Achieving the 75 per cent diversion rate will involve many actions and factors, including promoting programs such as curbside textile collection, encouraging residents to reduce waste and reuse/refurbish items through initiatives such as the treasure hunt program, and ensuring materials are sorted appropriately for curbside and waste diversion site programs," noted Young.
In total, the city has collected 7.4 tonnes of textiles in 2024, through both the curbside program and drop-offs at the city landfill. Residents can drop off textiles at the landfill free of charge.
