What happens to your clothes after collection

A bag goes off the doorstep and that is usually the last you see of it. Here is what happens next, and how a few bags of clothes end up as money for a charity.

Sorted and graded by hand

Everything we collect comes back to our warehouse in North Shields, where it is sorted and graded by condition. The grade decides where an item goes next, which is why we ask for clothes in good, wearable condition — anything torn, stained or wet is worth nothing to the cause you picked.

Clothing is the bulk of it, but the same collection can take shoes, bags, accessories, perfumes, bedding, books, CDs and DVDs, and household electricals in working order.

Reuse comes first

The best thing that can happen to a garment is that somebody else wears it, so that is what we aim for before anything else. Some graded stock is sold to organisations here in the North-East and stays local. The rest is shipped abroad and sold in markets and shops, where it is worn again by someone who needs it.

Only what cannot be worn again is recycled. Nothing that is still good for wearing gets processed for the sake of it.

Where the money comes from

Selling that graded stock is what generates the funds. The collection is free, there is no minimum, and the proceeds go to whichever charity you chose when you booked — we pay them directly. Choose a different one next time if you like; it is per collection, not per household.

Why it matters that it never reaches a bin

Clothing put out with the household waste is buried, and it can take decades to break down. A collection keeps it out of that stream entirely: what can be worn is worn, what can’t is recycled, and the clothes carry on being clothes.

You clear a wardrobe, a charity gets the proceeds, and nothing goes to landfill. Everybody wins.