Lauren Justice
You may have seen the green, white and blue bins in area parking lots and figured them for another Goodwill pickup spot. It’s not unusual to see junked chairs and other household items leaned against them on Monday mornings. But the USAgain boxes are not for broken chairs or gently used toys. And it’s not Goodwill.
USAgain, which describes itself as “a green for-profit company,” collects and resells textiles to keep them out of landfills. The company has 14,000 bins in 19 states, 10 in the Madison area. In addition to clothes and shoes, USAgain accepts hats, purses, gloves, belts, bedding, sheets, blankets, drapes and towels.
According to its website, USAgain resells the discarded clothes it collects “to places where there is a great need for these items, supporting the local and global economy in the process. By exporting textiles to struggling countries we generate revenue, create green jobs here in the U.S. and abroad, and help to improve the well-being of people in America and around the world.” Other reports have cast doubt on the company’s practices.
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 15.7% of textiles were “recovered” in 2012 (that figure does not include clothes that were reused as clothes). Fabrics can be recycled into rags and mops, paper, insulation and other building materials. Some leftovers of natural fabrics like cotton are composted, according to the EPA.
Madison uses USAgain for its shoe recycling program; the company has bins at the city’s Badger Road and Sycamore waste sites. “The stuff we get is not very good, and they will take it,” says city recycling coordinator George Dreckmann, though he adds he would prefer working with a local concern.
USAgain is not the only way to donate your used clothes and textiles in town. Nonprofits Goodwill, St. Vincent de Paul and the Community Action Coalition Clothing Center (1717 N. Stoughton Rd.) accept wearable clothing.
Goodwill and St. Vinny’s also accept fabric for scrap that is “not wet, mildewed or chemically contaminated,” for eventual recycling.
