RECYCLE AND REUSE
These are common themes at Unique Thrift Stores. Most of our merchandise consists of unwanted, gently used clothing that we purchase in bulk from various local and national charities that fundraise through household items/clothing donation programs. We carefully sort and cull through huge volumes of merchandise to find those items our customers are interested in and that meet our quality and condition standards. Through our investment in processing, retailing and merchandising, we can give a second life to many of these items and keep them out of landfills.
What happens to the stuff that doesn’t sell in our stores? We do our best to keep the majority of these unusable or unsold goods out of landfills. How? We are always on the look out for other users and new uses for this merchandise.
Those Little League jerseys and Aunt Erma’s housedresses, for example, might be sold, in bulk, to brokers who ship merchandise like this around the world to various developing nations. Or, they might be sold to material wholesalers who make commercial rags and other fiber based products. Cousin Pearl’s violet shoes and matching purse might be purchased, along with other leather goods, by brokers who have found markets for used leather goods in Central America. We’re always interested in finding new and improved ways to further extend the life of this merchandise.
We are proud of the recycling role our company has played over the past three decades in supporting neighborhoods with quality resale items at affordable prices, in addition to benefiting the environment by investing in reusing and recycling, long before this became an environmental imperative.
DID YOU KNOW?
• Each American disposes of about 35 pounds of old clothing and other textiles each year, yet only 10 pounds per person are recycled. (Source: IL Recycling Association Website)
• The textile recycling industry, with some 2,000 companies, removes annually from the solid waste stream 2.5 billion pounds of post consumer textile product waste. (Source: Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association)
• How is used clothing recycled? According to the Council for Textile Recycling, almost half (48%) is recycled as secondhand clothing; approximately 20% become wiping and polishing cloths and approximately 26% is converted to fiber to be used in other products.
RECYCLING LINKS
Illinois Recycling Association: www.illinoisrecycles.org
Council for Textile Recycling: www.textilerecycle.org
Indiana Recyling Coalition: www.indianarecycling.org
Ohio EPA: www.epa.state.oh.us/ocapp/recycle.html
Unique Thrift Stores, a member of the Illinois Recycling Association
DID YOU KNOW?
• Each American disposes of about 35 pounds of old clothing and other textiles each year, yet only 10 pounds per person are recycled.(IL Recycling Association Website)
• The textile recycling industry, with some 2,000 companies, removes annually from the solid waste stream 2.5 billion pounds of post consumer textile product waste. (Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association)
• How is used clothing recycled? According to the Council for Textile Recycling, almost half (48%) is recycled as secondhand clothing; approximately 20% become wiping and polishing cloths and approximately 26% is converted to fiber to be used in other products.
RECYCLING LINKS
Illinois Recycling Association: www.illinoisrecycles.org
Council for Textile Recycling: www.textilerecycle.org
Indiana Recyling Coalition: www.indianarecycling.org
Ohio EPA: www.epa.state.oh.us/ocapp/recycle.html
Unique Thrift Stores, a member of the Illinois Recycling Association.
We are proud of the recycling role our company has played over the past three decades in supporting neighborhoods with quality resale items at affordable prices, in addition to benefiting the environment by investing in reusing and recycling, long before this became an environmental imperative.