Warning over 'pirate' clothes recycling bins

Collection banks, similar to those used by charities or other registered collectors at recycling centres, have been placed on council-owned land in Glasgow city centre, then filled and quickly moved on to other locations before the council could take action against operators for siting the bins without permission.

Organisations across the country have also warned of increasing incidents of old clothes being taken from charity-run collection banks - and donations snatched from outside charity shops - by opportunistic thieves aware that they can sell on the goods for a significant sum.

Unsorted bags of clothes, some of which could be sold on and the rest recycled, can now fetch up to 800 per tonne for collectors - three times the price of two years ago - according to data supplied by Zero Waste Scotland.

Even bags of recyclable rags can generate up to 260 a tonne, while in 2008 the going rate was just 150.

Although garment collection by private companies is not against the law, placing the bins on city streets without council permission is illegal.

Evelyn Mitchell, waste information development officer at Edinburgh-based environmental organisation Changeworks, said she feared that members of the public could leave clothes in a "pop-up" textile bank believing that the money would go to charity.

"While there is nothing wrong with private companies collecting garments and selling them on, I think a lot of people who are donating assume they are charity bins and that all of the money is going to a good cause," she added.

Most of the illicit bins are operated by a company called Glasgow Recycling, which is based in Rothesay Business Park in Clydebank. Glasgow City Council said it had warned the company that its bins were on council land.

Other operators are also understood to be taking advantage of the price of old clothes by placing banks in the city.

"The council works with a number of textile recycling partners, for the benefit of charities and our own schools, but we have also been aware of collection bins operated by at least one other organisation appearing on council property," said a spokesman for Glasgow City Council.

"Clearly, this was a matter of concern and we made considerable efforts to extract an explanation from the organisation in question.

"However, we eventually had no option but to notify them that, until they supplied satisfactory information, we would be forced to start removing the bins ourselves."

The council has official agreements in place with designated partnership charities to place textiles banks at recycling centres around the city.But it warned that it could not vouch for charity affiliations claimed by unofficial operators of textile banks.

"We are only in a position to vouch for the charities we work closely with, and residents can find information on their nearest official textile recycling bank on the council's website," the spokesman added.

Glasgow Recycling, which was set up this year, advertises on its website for householders to agree to have a clothing bank placed on their land.

"Have you got room to host a clothing bank?" it asks, underneath a picture of a bank sitting outside a new-build family home. The company also promotes its services to supermarkets, schools and churches.

"Cash incentives are in place to those wishing to have a textile bank placed on their premises," Glasgow Recycling says, adding that payments amount to 500-700 for every ton collected.

A spokeswoman said the owner of the company was not available for comment but added: "We have already taken away the bins from Glasgow City Council land."

While selling second-hand clothes in the UK is still widespread, especially through charity shops, clothes are increasingly exported for sale in Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East. A growing demand among high street shops for "recycled" clothing made of used materials has helped increase prices for second-hand clothes, while other garments can often be turned into cleaning cloths and resold.