Textile Recycling

Every year the British public throw away over a million tonnes of textiles, the vast majority of which could be reused or recycled. Nearly two million pairs of shoes are thrown out each week that could be worn by someone else. LMB offers an environmentally friendly alternative to this wastage. By depositing your textiles into a LMB recycling bank your clothes, shoes and textiles will receive a second lease of life instead of being sent to the dump.

What does LMB reuse or recycle?

LMB reuses and recycles virtually every kind of textile, from t-shirts to saris to school uniforms, shoes, trainers, football kits, hats, belts, jackets. The list is endless. And if you have any household textiles to donate such as towels, bed sheets or curtains, these can also be reused.

What does LMB do with the clothes it collects?

When a bank is full, it will be transported to the main sorting warehouse in Canning Town, East London. Each item is checked by hand and those that are of sufficient quality are separated by garment and material type, baled together and exported to developing countries overseas. There, clothes and shoes are distributed to local markets where stallholders sell the clothes to the surrounding communities.

Items that are unsuitable for reuse because they might be torn or stained, are not wasted and are separated by their material type to be recycled. Absorbable materials such as cotton and linen will be cut into industrial wiping rags. Other materials such as wool will either be shredded and made into felt or pulled to make new yarn.