Fashion / Interviews
Reusable threads
Bristol Textile Recyclers take everything that’s unsellable in charity shops and recycles 100 per of it. Bristol24/7 talks to fundraising marketing manager Aimee Campanella.
Walking into the Bristol Textile Recyclers’ factory space on Victoria Terrace in St Philip’s is quite astounding.
The quantity of clothing no longer coveted or required by its original purchasers is on the brink of being completely overwhelming. Bags piled to the rafters, conveyer belts, shoots, buckets and boxes of belts and bags. Partially an effect of overconsumption and fast fashion, seeing it in evidence before you is both stark and terrifying. Fortunately Bristol Textile Recyclers is meticulous and their process so refined, it allows for confident sifting, checking – and breathing.
is needed now More than ever
Bristol Textile Recyclers (BTR) has been around since the early 1970s. A family business that recycles 100 tonnes of textiles every single week, they are the only textile recycler in the South West.
Working with schools and up to 300 charities, BTR take what’s unsellable in the charity shops – the clothing, shoes, bags, belts, bric-a-brac and books.
BTR also fundraise and organise clothes drives for offices and schools; offer charities without shopfronts methods to raise funds and work with waste management companies; and position clothes banks. The effect is to clear space in charity shops and wardrobes, as well as to promote individuals to think about the journey of the textiles they purchase.
“For me, the more I learned the more I realised I don’t need to buy new,” says BTR’s fundraising marketing manager Aimee Campanella. “I live in Bedminster and check the charity shops every Saturday or feel I have missed a task on the weekend. I love a good old rummage. Working here has also inspired me to learn to sew, mend and make pieces last a bit longer.”
Once in the factory, the textiles are hand graded into 160 different categories. “The quality of the item determines our profit,” says Aimee. We sell less than 1 per cent wholesale to the quirky shop and market stall retailers. We tend to pick what they might like, or they can have a look themselves at their weekly appointment. We try and offer a premium service, as 20 tonnes a day is quite a lot.”
BTR also exports to Poland and Hungary. However, fast fashion is now available and affordable in Eastern Europe. In conjunction with this, the quality expected there has gone down. The standard of fast fashion garments is lower, so its reusability is low.
The bulk of their summer items now go to Africa, with winter items sold to Pakistan. BTR sells to distributors, then they go to markets stalls, then possibly another market before the individual.
Any unwearable items are cut up into cleaning cloth, or it leaves BTR via their waste management company and is separated into biodegradable and non-biodegradable. It’s then used for car insulation for example. The rest is burned for fuel with zero landfill.
Aimee is very keen to spread the sustainable fashion message – from production to recycling, she stresses the importance of really assessing our textile consumption. Last month BTR joined up with Love Your Clothes and WRAP – fashion designers, upcyclers and bloggers created looks inspired by the current and upcoming trends. The aim, to illustrate how you don’t need to buy new to look current, stylish and unique.
“We want to educate the general public on what happens to their clothes. We recycle 100 tonnes a week – but we shouldn’t have to. It’s a direct result of our overconsumption, and of fast fashion putting low grade clothing and textiles into the system which are made of such blended, synthetic fibres, their recyclability is limited. We have to think about what we buy, look after it and then we can recycle it when it’s truly no longer needed.”
Get in touch with Aimee for a tour of BTR.