In an announcement, the council said that the brightly coloured bags will make textiles more visible to recycling crews who are collecting the bags in “custom made cages fitted to the recycling trucks”.
The introduction of the pink bags is an addition to the existing textile collection service that has been in place since November 2016.
Residents can still use the previous collection route which involved the use of any plastic bags labelled with the word ‘textiles’. They are asked to place “clean, dry clothes and textiles” next to their recycling bin on collection day.
According to the council, any clean, dry and worn out items will be either reused or shredded and made into new products such as filling for mattresses, furniture and cars.
Cllr Carwyn Cox, cabinet member for environmental services, said: “We have worked hard over the last few months to develop this collection service. We hope these improvements will lead to even more clothing and textiles being recycled rather than being put in the general rubbish bins.
“We are always working towards being able to offer a more environmentally-friendly council and looking at ways we can improve the recycling and rubbish collection service.
Recycling
Veolia currently provides collection of recyclables in the borough.
Windsor and Maidenhead also use the recycling rewards scheme Greenredeem, which incentivises residents to recycle. The scheme began in 2009 and has another year to run.
To explore and tackle issues affecting the textiles recycling sector, secure your place at The Textiles Recycling Conference, taking place on 17 November in London. www.textilesconference.com
