Developing a Circular Textiles System for Ireland 
  
2020-ET-CP-106 
  
GREEN ENTERPRISE: INNOVATION FOR A CIRCULAR ECONOMY 
  
EPA RESEARCH PROGRAMME 2021–2030 
NATIONAL WASTE PREVENTION PROGRAMME  
Prepared for the Environmental Protection Agency 
by Community Resources Network Ireland (CRNI) 
Authors:  
Christine Costelloe, Community Resources Network Ireland 
Claire Downey and Jack McCarthy, Rediscovery Centre 
Colum Gibson and Eileen O’Leary, Clean Technology Centre at MTU 
Linda Ward, Charity Retail Ireland 
 
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 
An Ghníomhaireacht um Chaomhnú Comhshaoil 
PO Box 3000, Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford, Ireland 
Telephone: +353 53 916 0600  Fax: +353 53 916 0699 
Email: info@epa.ie   Website: www.epa.ie   
© Environmental Protection Agency 2022

ii 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
This report is published as part of the EPA Research Programme 2021–2030. The EPA Research 
Programme is a Government of Ireland initiative funded by the Department of the Environment, 
Climate and Communications. It is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency, which 
has the statutory function of co-ordinating and promoting environmental research. 
The authors would like to acknowledge the members of the project steering committee, namely 
Joe Reilly and Annmarie Tuohy from the EPA, Claire Downey (during 2020–2021) and Mary 
Fleming (during 2022) from Community Resources Network Ireland (CRNI), Pauline McDonogh 
from the Southern Waste Management Plan Office, and Jana Žůrková from RREUSE. The authors 
would like to extend their appreciation to the Society of St Vincent de Paul, Vincent’s Charleville, 
Vincent’s Buncrana, Vincent’s Arklow and SVP East Region, Cork County Council and Ballyhoura 
Development CLG, Donegal County Council and Wicklow County Council.

iii 
DISCLAIMER 
Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the material contained in this 
publication, complete accuracy cannot be guaranteed. The Environmental Protection Agency, 
the author(s) and the steering committee members do not accept any responsibility whatsoever 
for loss or damage occasioned, or claimed to have been occasioned, in part or in full, as a 
consequence of any person acting, or refraining from acting, as a result of a matter contained in 
this publication. All or part of this publication may be reproduced without further permission, 
provided the source is acknowledged.  
This report is based on a Green Enterprise: Innovation for a Circular Economy project funded 
under the 2020 call.  
The Green Enterprise: Innovation for a Circular Economy funding call supports innovators in 
Ireland to develop, demonstrate and implement circular economy approaches in their business 
models. It is managed through the EPA’s National Circular Economy Programme and is co-funded 
by EPA Research.

v 
Details of Project Partners  
 
Community Resources Network Ireland (CRNI) 
Address: Basement, 10 North Great George’s Street, Dublin, D01 V3K5, Ireland 
Tel.: +353 87 173 5184 
E-mail: info@crni.ie 
 
Charity Retail Ireland 
Address: 23 Pine Valley Grove, Rathfarnham, Dublin, D16 RX85, Ireland 
Tel.: +353 86 814 6949 
E-mail: info@charityretail.ie 
 
Clean Technology Centre (CTC) at MTU 
Address: Munster Technological University (MTU), Melbourn Building, 53 Melbourn Road, 
Bishopstown, Cork, T12 P594, Ireland 
Tel.: 021 434 4864 
E-mail: ctc.cork@mtu.ie 
 
Rediscovery Centre 
Address: The Boiler House, Ballymun Road, Ballymun, Dublin 9, D09 HK58, Ireland 
Tel.: 01 893 3801 
E-mail: info@rediscoverycentre.ie

v 
Table of Contents 
Acknowledgements                                                                                      
 
 
ii 
Disclaimer                                                                                                      
 
 
iii 
Project Partners                                                                                            
 
 
iv 
Executive Summary                                                                                
 
 
 
vii 
1.          Introduction                                                                  
         
 
1 
2.         Project Objectives 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1 
3.      
Project Activities / Outputs 
 
 
 
 
 
2 
4.         Project Findings  
 
 
 
 
 
 
9 
5.         Project Recommendations 
 
 
 
 
 
12 
6.        Project Outcomes  
 
 
 
 
 
 
14 
7.      
Next steps  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
15 
References 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
16 
Acronyms and Annotations  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
19 
Annexes: 
 
Annex 1: Assumptions and definitions 
 
 
 
 
 
20 
 
Annex 2: Stakeholder engagement activities 
 
 
 
 
22 
 
Annex 3: Categorised list of collection systems 
 
 
 
 
23 
Annex 4: Stakeholder feedback on separate collection systems 
 
 
26 
Annex 5: Demographics of Charleville, Arklow and Buncrana (2016) 
 
30 
Annex 6: Important points that informed which textiles to be accepted  
for collections  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
32 
Annex 7: Data collection protocols  
 
 
 
 
 
33
Annex 8: Prototype of permanent private and public collection points 
 
36

vi 
Annex 9: Key lessons learned from pilot design process 
 
 
 
37 
Annex 10: Alternative options explored 
 
 
 
 
 
39 
Annex 11: Communications outputs  
 
 
 
 
 
41 
Annex 12: Charleville pilot details 
 
 
 
 
 
 
43 
Annex 13: Arklow pilot details 
 
 
 
 
 
 
48 
Annex 14: Buncrana pilot details 
 
 
 
 
 
 
52 
Annex 15: Behaviours and attitudes survey analysis 
 
 
 
53
Annex 16: Data modelling at a national scale 
 
 
 
 
58 
Annex 17: Post-consumer textile solutions analysis 
 
 
 
65 
Annex 18: Showcase of innovative solutions for post-consumer clothing  
and home textiles 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
83 
Annex 19: Stakeholder feedback from final workshop 
 
 
 
91

vii 
Executive Summary 
Global textile production and consumption has major negative environmental impacts. Globally, 92 
million tonnes of waste is produced every year through textile production, consumption and disposal 
processes, while textiles account for roughly 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions (Niinimakli et al., 
2020). In the European Union (EU), policy makers are seeking to address the negative environmental 
impacts of global textile production and consumption through the European Waste Framework Directive 
(WFD), which requires that all EU Member States introduce separate collection systems for textiles by 
January 2025 (see European Parliament and Council, 2018). This means that textiles must be kept 
separate from other categories of waste ‘by type and nature’ (p. 116).1 
 
Currently, most textile waste in Ireland is collected through unseparated municipal waste collection 
systems (O’Leary et al., 2021). Two national needs therefore underpin this project. First, there is a need 
to design and implement post-consumer textile collection systems that are fit for purpose in an Irish 
context. Second, there is a need to identify and develop promising business opportunities for reuse, 
repair and remanufacturing of post-consumer textiles in Ireland. In pursuit of these aims a project was 
developed with the following specific objectives.  
 
● To review the range of potential options for the separate collection of post-consumer textiles. 
● To select and pilot different separate textile collection systems in specific localities and to measure 
the qualities and quantities of textiles collected.  
● To model the results at a national level and thereby inform the effective design of a full-scale separate 
textile collection system. 
● To identify potential business solutions and opportunities in relation to the recirculation of used 
textiles.  
● To identify specific recommendations for national policy makers.  
 
In pursuit of these objectives, the project found strong indications that Ireland is unprepared to meet the 
requirements of the WFD. Specifically, the project revealed the following. 
 
1. The separate collection of textiles is very resource-intensive. Indeed, running a pilot at an appropriate 
geographical and temporal scale was beyond the resources available to this project. 
                                                           
1 The WFD provides some leeway to collect different categories of waste together “provided that it does not impede the high-quality recycling 
or other recovery of waste” (pp. 116). Member States may also apply for derogations from these requirements if a number of conditions are met 
(see European Parliament and Council, 2018).

viii 
2. The main function of charity retailers is to raise funds for their respective causes. The sector does not 
currently therefore have the infrastructure, capacity or resources to expand its role in collecting 
textiles or associated qualitative and quantitative data. 
3. Existing public data on post-consumer textile collections are limited. As such, there is no consistent 
knowledge base on which to base the development of a separate textile collection system or business 
solutions that may be best suited to an Irish context.  
4. The post-consumer textile sector is currently underdeveloped, with the activities of different 
stakeholders relatively fragmented and siloed. There is little collaboration between stakeholders, no 
sectoral representative body, and a range of competing interests at play that may actively work 
against establishing a functional national system for separate collection of textiles.  
5. The process of engaging with stakeholders did reveal strong support for public communications that 
emphasise simplicity and post-collection sorting of textiles into different quality streams.  
 
Based on these findings, the project identifies five main actions that policy makers should consider.  
 
First, increased infrastructure, labour capacity, and collaboration between sectoral stakeholders should 
be actively supported in order to improve the capacity of the sector as a whole to support the separate 
collection, reuse, repair and remanufacturing of post-consumer textiles.  
 
Second, given the difficulty in obtaining data on the quantities and qualities of textiles that are collected 
through different collection methods, a national standardised reporting system for textiles collected by 
commercial, public and charitable organisations is recommended. 
 
Third, any national separate collection system for textiles should emphasise simplicity for the public and 
include a campaign communicating the same. Sorting of textiles should therefore take place after 
donation by those involved in the sector.  
 
Fourth, explore avenues to (1) mainstream reuse and repair and (2) implement industrial-scale 
remanufacturing and reuse of low-quality textiles. 
 
Finally, implementing any of these actions will require significant investment and funding. Mechanisms 
to deliver funding that achieve the outcomes of improving infrastructure, enhancing labour capacity and 
developing collaborative partnerships between existing stakeholders are urgently needed.

9 
1. Introduction  
The European Waste Framework Directive (WFD) in Article 11.1 requires that all European Union (EU) 
Member States implement separate collection of post-consumer textiles by 1 January 2025. This project 
therefore aimed to explore the potential volumes and quality of textiles that will be generated through 
different separate collection systems in Ireland. Based on the results of this process, the project team 
sought to identify and explore potential business models that can aid in managing Ireland's post-
consumer textiles in cost-effective ways.  
 
Recent research in Ireland has shown that 110,000 tonnes of post-consumer textiles is collected as waste 
across all sectors annually, of which 64,000 tonnes is collected from households (O’Leary et al., 2021). An 
additional 60,000 tonnes is resold, reused and recycled through a variety of entities. 2021 figures indicate 
that 17,500 tonnes of textiles is handled by charities (O’Leary et al., 2021). Most of this amount is 
collected through in-store donations and textile banks (O’Leary et al., 2021). Commercial textile recyclers 
also play a large role in this sector and are estimated to collect roughly 40,000 tonnes of textiles per year 
through a large network of textile banks, collections in communities and schools, door-to-door collections 
and commercial retailer take-back schemes (O’Leary et al., 2021). Unsold or unusable stock received by 
members of Charity Retail Ireland is also directed to commercial textile recyclers. However, due to a lack 
of data availability, there is significant uncertainty regarding the volumes of textiles handled by 
commercial textile recyclers (O’Leary et al., 2021). 
 
Considering the estimated quantity of textiles in household recycling and residual bins, the expansion of 
current systems or the introduction of new separate collection systems could have a significant positive 
impact in diverting post-consumer textiles from incineration and/or landfill in Ireland. Exports for reuse 
will continue to play an important role.  
 
This project aimed to support Ireland to meet its obligation under Article 11.1 of the revised EU WFD but 
also the EU Circular Economy Action Plan 2.0 goals of boosting the EU market for sustainable and circular 
textiles. It also resonates with UN SDG Goals 12 and 13, which seek to foster sustainable consumption 
and address climate change respectively. Key assumptions and definitions that underpin this project are 
detailed in Annex 1: Assumptions and Definitions. 
 
2. Project Objectives

10 
The overarching aim of this project was to identify solutions for dealing with current, and an anticipated 
increase in, quantities of post-consumer textiles in economically, socially and environmentally sustainable 
ways. Specifically, the project objectives and activities were designed to identify circular economy 
approaches to dealing with post-consumer textiles, meaning approaches that will maintain the value of 
textiles for as long as possible by ‘returning them into the product cycle at the end of their use’ (Eurostat, 
n.d.). This includes consideration of business models, policy structures and supports, infrastructural 
needs, and collaboration between different stakeholders operating in the post-consumer textile sector. 
The key objectives developed in support of this overarching aim are outlined below. 
 
● Review the range of potential options for the separate collection of post-consumer textiles. 
● Select and pilot different separate textile collection systems in specific localities and measure the 
qualities and quantities of textiles collected.  
● Model the results at a national level to inform the effective design of a full-scale separate textile 
collection system. 
● Identify potential business solutions and opportunities in relation to the recirculation of used textiles.  
● Identify specific recommendations for national policy makers. 
 
In pursuit of these objectives, the project team undertook the activities discussed in the next section. It 
was through the experience of designing and implementing the pilot projects, more than the data 
generated, that the key findings, insights and recommendations of this project were developed.  
 
3. Project Activities/Outputs 
The following are specific activities that the project team undertook. 
 
1. Stakeholder engagement: The project team continually engaged with key sectoral stakeholders as 
part of the development of the pilot textile collections, interpretation of the results and 
communication of the project findings.  
2. Review of post-consumer textile initiatives and initial project design: A scoping exercise was carried 
out to identify and categorise the range of separate post-consumer textile collection systems that 
could be trialled. 32 collection systems were identified, reviewed and categorised. Through a 
stakeholder workshop, three collection systems were chosen for pilot implementation in different 
locations throughout Ireland.

11 
3. Pilot design and redesign: The pilot design included the developing of a separate collection system 
for implementation, selecting pilot locations, identifying categories of textiles for collection, and 
developing data collection protocols and communications. 
4. Pilot implementation and data collection: Separate textile collection pilot projects were designed 
and implemented in three locations supported by locally tailored communications campaigns. 
Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered in relation to the weight and categories of textiles 
collected as part of each pilot. 
5. Behaviours and attitudes survey: A survey was developed and implemented in each of the pilot 
locations to gauge the behaviours and attitudes that people in those localities had around clothing 
and home textiles. 
6. Data modelling: Data were analysed with the aim of modelling the different collection systems at a 
national scale. This was intended to support recommendations on the development of a national 
system for the separate collection of textiles. Due to the difficulty in obtaining reliable data from the 
pilots, additional datasets were drawn upon to inform recommendations arising from the project. 
7. Identification of post-consumer textile solutions: A broad variety of potential opportunities for 
dealing with post-consumer textiles were identified from domestic and international contexts. Two 
of these opportunities were chosen based on the data available to the project, in conjunction with 
the project team’s reading of existing research. An Eco-Business Model Canvas process was 
undertaken on both to identify potential barriers and benefits for closing the loop on post-consumer 
textiles in Ireland. An innovation showcase was created and displayed, and tours were provided. 
 
3.1 Stakeholder engagement 
Stakeholders from the post-consumer textile sector were engaged throughout this project,2 as members 
of the Steering Committee, as formal collaborators and as workshop participants. This engagement 
allowed the project team to access expert knowledge based on professional experience on an ongoing 
basis, which helped to guide the project development and implementation. 
 
3.2. Review of post-consumer textile initiatives and initial project design 
An initial task involved selecting textile collection systems to pilot in specific localities. Through desktop 
research the project team identified 34 potential textile collection systems, as well as the benefits and 
challenges associated with each.3 These were collated into eight categories and a ninth ‘communications-
only’ category was subsequently added, to represent a limited intervention control scheme involving only 
communications about existing separate collection options. These categories were screened to assess 
                                                           
2 Stakeholder engagement activities are in Annex 2. 
3 The full list of categorised collection systems is available in Annex 3.

12 
their suitability in the context of a national separate collection system4 using criteria identified by the 
project team. Kerbside/door-to-door collection followed by public collection points ranked highly. 
However, many unknowns were encountered as part of the screening process, especially in relation to 
local infrastructure, cost to implement, potential for contamination and quality of collected textiles 
where these systems are rolled out in Ireland. 
 
At a 12 May 2021 stakeholder workshop, a diverse set of participants5 from a variety of sectors worked 
together to select three collection systems for piloting.       
 
Based on this outcome, the following three pilots were initially developed. 
 
● Pilot Area 1: Communications campaign with use of existing collection system infrastructure to serve 
as a baseline. 
● Pilot Area 2: Communications campaign and new (permanent) private and public collection points. 
● Pilot Area 3: Communications campaign; new (permanent) private and public collection points; and 
kerbside door-to-door separate collection.  
 
The project was redesigned due to resource constraints and a number of global events – such as the 
Covid-19 pandemic – that were outside the project team’s control and had an extensive impact on the 
implementation of the project.  
 
3.3. Pilot design and redesign  
Three locations were selected in which to implement the pilots: Charleville, Arklow and Buncrana. These 
locations were chosen for a number of reasons. First, experience from other projects indicated that small 
to medium-sized towns6 are suitable for these pilots due to the clear geographic delineation, limited 
number of waste collectors, and a scale that was achievable within the resource constraints of the project. 
These locations also broadly align with national demographic composition7 and are distributed in 
Ireland’s three NUTS II regions. The project retail charity partner – the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) 
– is also present in each location. The project team collaborated heavily with SVP on textile and data 
collection.  
 
                                                           
4 See definition in Annex 1. 
5 Stakeholder feedback on separate collection systems is in Annex 4. 
6 Population centres of 5,000–100,000 inhabitants with population density >300 people/km2 (Servillo et al., 2017).  
7 See Annex 5 for demographics of Charleville, Arklow and Buncrana

13 
Determining the categories of textiles that would be accepted as part of the collections was done in 
consultation with project Steering Committee members, Charity Retail Ireland and individual charity 
retailers at an international conference (Product Lifetimes and the Environment, 2021). Through this 
consultation, the project team identified that it was important to include as wide a range of textiles as 
possible in order to provide the most accurate representation of the quality and quantity of textiles that 
will be generated through mandatory separate collection of textiles in 2025. Particularly important points 
emerged to inform this decision,8 including that charity retailers and commercial textile recyclers have 
the expertise to sort textiles vs the public. 
 
Specific data collection protocols were developed for implementation as part of each pilot to measure 
quantity and quality of textiles collected,9 at both at the shop level (see Table 1) and the municipal waste 
level. Two main categories of data were to be collected: textiles collected that (1) are directly resaleable 
and (2) can be categorised as ‘rag’.10 
 
Table 1: Draft template for reporting data on textile collection quantities and quality direct to store 
For the week: 
Donations 
 
Direct to the shop 
From the new clothes banks 
No. of 10 kg bags donated (equivalent) 
 
 
% yield (saleable product) 
 
 
No. of 10 kg bags of rag product (equivalent) 
 
 
These were to be supplemented by carrying out a ‘material characterisation’ on a small sample of rag. 
Material characterisations involve identifying the material composition of the textiles in question. 
 
Protocols were also developed for waste characterisation surveys to measure quality and quantity of 
textiles from municipal waste collection. However, these protocols were adapted in the final redesign 
due to project resource constraints and staffing shortages at the charity retail shops, and the labour-
intensive work involved in sorting clothing and gathering associated data.  
 
                                                           
8 Important points that informed which textiles were accepted for collections are in Annex 6. 
9 Initial and final data collection protocols are in Annex 7. 
10 Rag is defined as textiles not suitable for reuse/resale in their original form.

14 
In the initial design, it had been envisaged that existing charity shop staff could service the permanent 
private and public collection points,11 sort the textiles, provide a van and driver, and provide space for 
storage and sorting. Implementing the pilot approach as originally envisaged was not possible due to 
several key factors, including a lack of resources, health and safety concerns, competing collections, and 
delayed engagement with charity partners.12 
 
For these reasons, it was necessary to redesign the pilot programme. This process caused significant 
delays to the project, as it involved additional research, planning and accommodating the restricted 
capacity of the project charity partner, who at the time was significantly impacted by Covid-19 challenges.  
A number of alternative options were explored13 and the final pilot design retained many elements of 
the initial design, but it was scaled back and the layered approach was removed. The final redesign aimed 
to accommodate the needs in each local community, charity retail partner capacity and available 
resources in each location as well as relying on additional external assistance and collaboration with local 
stakeholders (e.g. Ballyhoura Development Company, County Councils) to move the project forward. 
Considering all these factors, the final pilot was redesigned to the following. 
 
● Arklow, Co. Wicklow – Pilot Area 1: Communications + two event-based public collections. 
● Buncrana, Co. Donegal – Pilot Area 2: Communications with existing infrastructure. 
● Charleville, Co. Cork  – Pilot Area 3: Communications + door-to-door/kerbside collections. 
 
Importantly, the challenges encountered by the project team implementing the initial pilot design 
provided insight on the current infrastructural, capacity and resource limitations of the charity retail 
sector to deal with increased quantities of post-consumer textiles nationally. 
 
Data collection sought to capture quantities of textiles collected in new channels during each pilot; 
quality of textiles (rag v. non-rag) collected in new channels during each pilot; detailed quality analysis 
on the rag fraction collected in Charleville on a 20-bag sample to identify potential textile streams of 
value; and costs associated with separate collection systems. 
 
3.4. Pilot implementation and data collection 
A strategy for promoting the pilots at a local level was developed through a review of 45 case studies 
from a range of organisations including the EPA, Regional Waste Management Planning Lead Authorities, 
                                                           
11 Prototype of private and public collection points is shown in Annex 8. 
12 Key lessons learned from the pilot design process are in Annex 9. 
13 Details on alternative options explored are in Annex 10.

15 
Cré, WRAP and other European and US organisations. This review identified the importance of a range of 
elements in fostering engagement with pilot collections, such as providing information on how to reuse, 
donate, repair, upcycle, recycle unwanted textiles; using positive messaging; disseminating information 
through sources people trust and communications channels they access regularly; and including various 
communications methods. Communications materials were developed based on these findings and were 
refined through stakeholder consultation. The overall objectives of the communications campaign were 
to clearly communicate how to donate unwanted textiles, the categories of textiles accepted, and who 
benefits from donated textiles. Building on these principles, specific communications outputs were 
delivered.14 
 
In terms of the cost data on sorting and analysis, it was apparent from early in the design phase that the 
permanent collection points were prohibitively expensive for the scale of the project funding. Kerbside 
door-to-door collections were more reasonable but were still only possible due to labour, resources, 
transportation and space provided by local partners. 
 
As such, the costs of rolling out the pilots in each location were not reflective of the actual costs in terms 
of resources and labour time spent running the pilot. The pilot costs are therefore not suitable for 
estimating costs at a national scale. It was also found that human resources, transportation, and storage 
and sorting capacity were specific to each locality and, therefore, an important learning for national 
rollout. This experience provided further indication of the infrastructure, capacity and resources required 
to run separate collection systems effectively, which were lacking in the pilot locations. 
 
3.4.1. Charleville: kerbside door-to-door collection pilot 
Full details for the Charleville pilot can be found in Annex 12. Three kerbside door-to-door textile 
collections took place in Charleville and a total of 70 bags were obtained from a catchment of 900 
households (see Table 2). Collections were promoted through a launch event, a flyer drop by Ballyhoura 
Development CLG to catchment households, and engagement with local media and social media 
channels. CTC and Ballyhoura Development CLG carried out the collections. CTC collected data on the 
number and weight of the bags. 
 
All bags from two of the three kerbside door-to-door collections were sorted in order to provide an 
indication of the quality of textiles gathered in each instance in terms of resaleable and rag qualities. A 
                                                           
14 See Annex 11 for communications outputs.

16 
fourth private collection with a secondary school was added later to this pilot; however, data are not 
included in the results. 
 
Table 2: Summary of collections in Charleville, Co. Cork 
Collection 
Date 
No. of bags 
Weight (kg) 
Resaleable 
Rag 
1 
31/3/2022 
12 
56 
9% 
91% 
2 
28/4/2022 
37 
234.5 
37% 
63% 
3 
26/5/2022 
21 
105 
No data 
No data 
4 
26/05/2022 
22 
100 
No data 
No data 
Total kerbside door-to-door 
(excluding collection 4) 
 
70  
395.5 
31.6% 
(from 49 
bags) 
68.4% 
(from 49 
bags) 
Total drop-off 
 
22 
100 
 
 
 
A number of points from this pilot carry insight for future separate collection systems. First, there was a 
difficulty in gaining access to resources for the purposes of implementing the project (e.g. a van for 
collecting textiles, personnel to carry out the collections, storage, and personnel to carry out the sorting 
of textiles into categories). Indeed, the collections themselves would have been prohibitively expensive 
had Ballyhoura Development CLG not come on board. Second, there were difficulty and delays in 
gathering data for the pilot period from the local charity shop due to resource constraints. Again, these 
points highlight the resources and infrastructure that will be needed to carry out separate collection and 
data reporting on a national scale. 
 
3.4.4. Arklow: event-based drop-off pilot 
Full details for the Arklow pilot can be found in Annex 13. In summary, the public were invited to donate 
textiles at two public event-based collection points in Arklow – at a local secondary school and Arklow 
Recycling Centre. Those wishing to donate were encouraged to fill their own bags with clean, dry, 
unwanted clothing and home textiles. The collections were publicised through flyers distributed to 6,222 
households, social media posts, and local printed and radio news outlets. The 262 bags from both 
collections were stored in situ until they could be collected by SVP East Region staff and processed at SVP 
East Region’s sorting centre.  
 
This model worked well in establishing community involvement; feedback was favourable and 
suggestions were made for collections to take place outside working hours or on the weekend. Due to

17 
capacity constraints with the local charity partner, the data collection associated with the pilot was 
limited. In particular, qualitative data were obtained from only one of the two collections (see Table 3).  
 
Table 3: Post-consumer textile quantities and quality from community collections in Arklow 
Collection 
Date 
No. of bags 
Weight (kg) 
Saleable 
Rag 
1 – Secondary school 
18/05/22 
100 
497.7 
Unknown 
Unknown 
2 – Arklow Recycling Centre 
01/06/22 
162 
823.4 
5–10% 
90–95% 
Total 
 
262 
1,321. 
5–10% 
90–95% 
 
The 100 bags donated during the first collection were disposed of due to contamination of a number of 
bags and associated health and safety concerns. Of the 162 bags from the second collection, 25 were 
sorted for quality. 24 bags were categorised as rag, while one bag was of sufficient quality for immediate 
resale, which according to Charity Retail Ireland is an unusually low resale rate. 
 
3.4.5. Buncrana: communications-only pilot 
Full details for the Buncrana pilot can be found in Annex 14. The primary focus of this pilot was to invite 
the community to donate unwanted clothing and home textiles at existing collection points, including 
Vincent’s Buncrana and other charity shops in the locality. The pilot was promoted using the same 
approach as in the other pilot locations. The launch of the Buncrana pilot was delayed at the request of 
Vincent’s Buncrana due to local collections taking place in the community for the war in Ukraine. No 
discernible pattern is evident in the data in terms of the effect of the communications campaign (June–
August 2022). Textile banks were added later to this pilot; however, data are not included in the results. 
 
3.5. Behaviours and attitudes surveys 
The complete detailed analysis of the behaviours and attitudes surveys can be found in Annex 15. To 
summarise: the surveys across the three locations received 438 responses, of which 216 were valid. A 
particularly useful response from the survey is that across all locations more than 50% of survey 
respondents indicated that they would have clothing and/or home textiles available for donation every 
four to six months. The results also indicate that the following could act as motivators for donating 
unwanted clothing:  
 
● knowledge of what happens to the textiles donated  
● knowledge of what kinds of textiles could be donated  
● knowledge of who benefits from donations of unwanted textiles

18 
● knowledge of environmental benefits from donations of unwanted textiles. 
 
3.6. Data modelling 
 The initial intention of the project was to utilise the data generated during the pilots to model anticipated 
qualities and quantities of textiles that would be generated by different separate collection systems if 
those systems were scaled up to a national level. A key prerequisite for carrying out this task was the 
generation of high-quality data through the pilots. However, the data generated through the pilots were 
not sufficient for carrying out this exercise due to the timeframe of the project, the number of samples, 
and the differences in reporting of data in different pilot locations. 
 
Due to the limitations pertaining to the pilot data, a second analytic task was undertaken. Data were 
gathered from a range of non-pilot sources to provide a broader indication of textile qualities that may 
be generated through separate textile collection systems.15 Qualitative categories were utilised – suitable 
for resale; exported for resale to high-value markets; export for resale and remanufacturing in medium-
value markets; pulping and downcycling; and waste/energy recovery. In comparing these data, a number 
of points are worth noting. Though fragmented, these supplementary data provide two main indications. 
First, the vast majority of post-consumer textiles have value either through local resale or export. Second, 
there is significant variation in the results from each dataset in terms of the textiles gathered through 
each collection method.  
 
3.7. Identification of post-consumer textile solutions 
The full post-consumer textile solutions analysis can be found in Annex 17. To summarise: in order to 
build on the insights gained through the pilot implementation and associated data analysis, the project 
team undertook a review of potential solutions that could work with the qualities and quantities of 
textiles that would be generated through a national separate textile collection system. The project team 
identified 74 existing business models and technologies that can be deployed in the reuse or recycling of 
textiles, and two such potential solutions were selected for further exploration through an Eco-Business 
Model Canvas: 
 
● Arnott’s ‘circular fix’ provides repair services to consumers on second-hand items in a mainstream, 
well-known retail space. 
● The concept of large-scale industrial solutions provides an alternative to recovery via waste-to-
energy. Two viable solutions were identified. The UsedFULLY project in New Zealand illustrates how 
                                                           
15 Annex 16

19 
such an initiative can address multiple sustainability objectives at once, for instance by keeping 
existing materials in circulation, and by replacing fossil-fuel-based materials.  In terms of domestic 
solutions, the Cirtex project is currently using post-consumer textiles as an input to make a range of 
products, including insulation, furniture padding, water retention growth pads, flooring and carpet 
underlay, and all-weather arena flooring material.  
 
An innovation showcase16 was created, displayed at the Rediscovery Centre, and tours were provided.  
 
4. Project Findings 
The project strongly indicates that Ireland is unprepared to meet the requirements of the WFD in relation 
to separate collection of textiles. Specifically, the project revealed the following. 
 
● The separate collection of textiles is resource-intensive. The main function of charity retailers is to 
raise funds for their respective causes. The sector therefore does not currently have the 
infrastructure, capacity or resources to expand its role in collecting textiles or associated qualitative 
and quantitative data. 
● Existing public data on post-consumer textile collections are limited. As such, there is no consistent 
knowledge base on which to base the development of a separate textile collection system or business 
solutions that may be best suited to an Irish context.  
● The post-consumer textile sector is currently underdeveloped, with the activities of different 
stakeholders relatively fragmented and siloed. There is little collaboration between stakeholders, no 
sectoral representative body, and a range of competing interests at play that may actively work 
against establishing a functional system for separate collection of textiles nationally.  
● The process of engaging with stakeholders did reveal strong support for public communications that 
emphasise simplicity and post-collection sorting of textiles into different quality streams.  
 
While there are significant limitations in relation to the data collected through the pilot, a number of 
findings were produced through this process.  
 
1. There is a lack of infrastructure, resources and capacity to implement separate collection of textiles 
at a local level. The project team experienced significant barriers to implementing the project in 
pilot locations and in gathering data in a timely manner.  
                                                           
16 A showcase of innovative solutions for post-consumer clothing and home textiles can be seen in Annex 18

20 
This finding is underpinned by the challenges faced by the project team in designing and redesigning the 
pilots, implementing the project in pilot locations and gathering data in a timely manner. The team 
underestimated the resources that would be required to implement the originally designed pilot at the 
geographic and temporal scale necessary to obtain data that could inform national policy. The team found 
that the costs involved in terms of hosting and servicing collection points, transporting textiles, 
monitoring donation points in case of dumping, sorting textiles, and documenting the quantities and 
qualities of textiles generated far exceeded the budget of the project.  
 
Importantly, these difficulties and delays were not due to any unwillingness on the part of project 
partners. Rather, there is an ongoing staffing and volunteer shortfall in the charity retail sector. Moreover, 
the project would have struggled to gain any data at all had it not been for significant resources 
contributed voluntarily to the project by the charity retail partner.  
 
The scale and complexity of these kinds of challenges should not be underestimated as efforts progress 
to implement a national separate collection system. Moreover, they highlight that the requisite 
infrastructure, resources and personnel are not currently in place to enact a separate collection system. 
As has been pointed out earlier in this report, charity retailers’ aims are generally to raise money for their 
respective causes and by default they do provide a separate textile collection service, albeit on a limited 
basis as currently operated and funded. The experience from this project therefore indicates that 
significant resources and investment will be required to develop the required infrastructure and support 
the required human capacity. 
 
2. There were difficulties obtaining high-quality data from the pilots, and in obtaining non-pilot data 
that could provide a basis for modelling a national separate collection system. 
Data generated from the pilots themselves were limited for the reasons outlined above. The non-pilot 
data that were obtained were non-standardised and represented data collections by a variety of different 
bodies at a variety of different points in the collection process. For these reasons, in-depth understanding 
was required in order to read and interpret the implications of the different datasets. For instance, the 
relatively low percentage of textiles suitable for domestic resale from charity shop donations reported by 
the commercial textile recycler was recorded after charity shops had already taken high-quality textiles 
from the quantities collected. A national standardised dataset pertaining to post-consumer textiles will 
be essential in understanding the most effective collection systems; in developing the infrastructure, 
resources, and capacity to implement such systems; and in developing the solutions that can keep textiles 
in circulation or remanufacture those textiles to avoid incineration.

21 
3. Though limited, the data that were gathered indicate that the vast majority of post-consumer 
textiles have value through either local resale or export.  
All non-pilot data provide clear indication in this regard. These four datasets indicate that between 0.5% 
and 50% of textiles collected across the three systems have resale potential within Ireland. Importantly, 
commercial textile recyclers often obtain textiles only after charity partners extract the resaleable items, 
which helps to explain some of the discrepancy in these figures. In all instances, at least 50% of textiles 
had value in export markets and pulping/downcycling. Higher percentages of textiles are generally 
destined for export markets than pulping/downcycling. Similarly, the data from the project’s pilot 
collections indicate that 32% and 10% of textiles generated through kerbside and event-based drop-off 
respectively are suitable for rewearing through resale within Ireland. Finally, all datasets support the 
assertion that a very small portion of separately collected textiles is sent for waste/energy recovery via 
incineration, representing an average of 2% across all data sources. This finding supports the two 
potential business solutions identified and explored through the Eco-Business Model Canvas: (1) 
mainstreaming repair and second-hand clothing, and (2) large-scale industrial uses of low-quality post-
consumer textiles.  
 
4. Further exploration of behaviours and attitudes could help inform an efficient national separate 
collection system.  
The behaviours and attitudes survey carried out as part of this project provided a number of valuable 
insights. These included: 
● The primary  reasons for getting rid of a piece of clothing/home textile – lack of need, lack of fit, 
damage, wear, and not liking the item. 
● Survey respondents favoured charity shops, textile banks and passing to family and friends as the 
primary means of getting rid of textiles – notably, kerbside door-to-door collection was absent 
because it is not often available at present. 
● Knowledge of what happens to textiles after donations and the environmental and social benefits 
were reported as factors that could encourage increased donations. 
● Over 72% of survey respondents said that they would have clothing/home textiles available for 
donation every four to 12 months. 
 
5. The project generated a stakeholder approved approach to communicating and promoting textile 
collections at a local level.  
Primarily, through in-depth engagement and workshopping with a range of sectoral stakeholders, a 
communication campaign was developed that emphasised simplicity. Specifically, there was resounding 
agreement from stakeholders that textile donation should be as simple as possible for the general public,

22 
because if it is too complicated the textiles will end up in the general waste stream. It follows that textile 
sorting should be undertaken by trained staff at organisations specialising in textile collection, whether 
these be charitable, commercial or public organisations.   
 
5.    Project Recommendations 
Recommendation 1: Scope, develop and support infrastructure, human capacity and 
collaboration between current and future stakeholders in the post-consumer textile sector to 
support a national separate textile collection system.  
The project team’s experience of implementing the pilots underpins this recommendation. It was found 
that infrastructure was lacking in terms of storage and sorting space, transport and linkages between the 
different stakeholders involved. Before targeted action could be taken on this front, an urgent scoping 
exercise of the extent of the needs of the sector should be undertaken, including mapping and typification 
of facilities, systems, and consultation with those already working in post-consumer textile collection and 
processing.  
 
Following this broader scoping exercise, it will also be crucial to foster improved collaboration between 
different actors in the sector. While they had only a snapshot of the functioning of the sector, the project 
team observed an underdeveloped sector consisting of fragmented and siloed activities that vary 
significantly throughout the country. Bringing stakeholders together to develop solutions that are 
workable based on their current activities will therefore be important in implementing a separate 
collection system by 2025. Elements that could be considered include establishing a sectoral stakeholder 
committee with governmental involvement.  
 
Recommendation 2: Establish a national standardised database of quantities and categories of textiles 
currently gathered through different collection methods. 
The data that were collected are beset by a variety of limitations including small sample size, atypicality 
of some samples and a lack of longitudinal data collection, which could have revealed, for instance, 
seasonal variations in the quantities and qualities of textiles generated. High-quality data describing the 
current state of affairs are a valuable asset to public policy makers in identifying the scale and location of 
challenges as well as the availability of resources to address those challenges. A national standardised 
dataset pertaining to the quantities and categories of textiles available for reuse would be of immense 
value to policy makers and those seeking to establish textile reuse enterprises.  
 
The project team argues that national reporting protocols should be developed for all textile collections, 
while municipal, charitable and commercial textile collectors should be financially supported to engage

23 
in reporting of data. The challenges we encountered in obtaining high-quality data from the pilots pushed 
us to obtain supplementary data that helped us to explore what a national separate textile collection 
system would look like in terms of quantities and qualities of textiles. The project team encountered a 
willingness from both charity and commercial operators to carry out short-term data collection activities 
and share data compiled during recent years. These data were very useful in our analysis process, yet 
they also highlighted further the absence of a national data resource detailing the quantities and 
categories of textiles that are collected every year.  
 
Recommendation 3: A national separate collection system for textiles should be as simple as 
possible at the point of donation/collection. 
This recommendation is based on the development of a communications campaign with in-depth 
stakeholder engagement. There was resounding agreement throughout this process that in order to 
maximise public engagement, textile sorting should take place after the point of donation/collection. The 
communications campaign implemented as part of the pilots emerged from this stakeholder workshop 
and could form a basis for a broader public engagement campaign. 
 
Recommendation 4: Explore avenues to (1) mainstream reuse and repair and (2) implement industrial-
scale remanufacturing and reuse of low-quality textiles 
In spite of the notable limitations, the data generated and compiled highlight that the vast majority of 
textiles collected can be reworn through local resale, repair or export to third countries. The two key 
challenges in relation to growing the rate of rewearing clothes are (1) bringing and growing the portion 
of second-hand clothing that is available for sale in mainstream retail spaces, and (2) a need to 
mainstream repair services in relation to high-street textiles and garments at prices that make it 
economically attractive to repair rather than to purchase new items. In this regard, forms of economic 
support for such initiatives should be considered by policy makers.  
 
The data drawn upon in the research also indicate that there is an additional large portion of textiles that 
is suitable for reuse through downcycling in various forms of remanufacturing for industrial and 
infrastructure applications. Importantly, existing research highlights that mandatory separate collection 
of textiles is likely to generate large quantities of low-quality textiles (Dubois et al., 2020). As such, 
identifying pathways for reuse that can be applied at scale is essential to boosting the reuse of such 
textiles.  
 
Recommendation 5: Adequate funding must be quantified and targeted to support the other four 
recommendations and maximise impact.

24 
Implementing each of these recommendations will require financial investment. It was not within the 
scope of this project to determine precisely how much such undertakings would cost, but such an exercise 
should be carried out in earnest. The funding that does become available should also build on further 
collection of data to target the most effective measures. 
 
6. Project Outcomes 
Through the project and as discussed throughout this report, the project team has identified both the 
challenges that Ireland will need to address before it is ready to transition to a circular textiles separate 
collection system by 1 January 2025 and the opportunities a truly circular textiles system can bring to the 
country. The short-term and long-term outcomes are outlined below. As the project has concluded, it is 
not within the scope of this project to track future progress on these envisaged outcomes. 
 
6.1. Short-term outcomes 
● Raise awareness among participating householders and charity shops in the pilot locations.  
The implementation of the pilots in the three selected locations raised awareness in those locales around 
issues pertaining to post-consumer textiles. Specific activities included the collections themselves, 
distributing communications materials, media coverage, launch events  and the behaviours and attitudes 
survey. The survey, in particular, provided valuable information about the potentially optimal frequency 
of collection (every four to six months) and why people get rid of unwanted clothing and home textiles. 
This information can be used to inform future communications about the separate collection of textiles.  
● Stronger relationships and recognition of the shared challenges among sectoral stakeholders. 
Stakeholders were involved throughout the planning, implementation and reporting of the project. For 
many of these stakeholders it was the first time that they had been brought together in relation to a 
common focus. Though not within the scope of the project, these activities could be built upon through 
further collaboration if it were nurtured and funded. However, incentives must be aligned in order for 
these relationships to be productive and sustainable. 
 
6.2 Long-term outcomes 
● Policy development in response to the WFD separate collection obligation.  
Policy makers were key stakeholders in this project, both on the steering committee and as active 
participants in the project stakeholder workshops. The recommendations outlined in the previous section 
should be taken on board and built upon with urgency over the next 24 months.  
● Catalysing the potential for long-term collaboration and development of business solutions for 
post-consumer textiles, particularly between participating Local Authorities, charity partners and

25 
commercial textile recyclers. 
The on-the-ground experience in designing, redesigning and implementing the pilots proved to be 
incredibly valuable and rich in lessons learned. The primary outcome is that much more work needs to 
be done to prepare stakeholders involved with post-consumer textiles to be ready for the influx of textile 
volumes that will be separately collected as of 1 January 2025. Through this project, these areas have 
been identified and recommendations made (see Section 5) and include investments in infrastructure, 
transportation, storage, collection and sorting staff, sorting centres, data collection and reporting, 
alignment of incentives and collaboration between stakeholders, and remanufacturing facilities.  
● Stimulate the development of promising opportunities for local reuse/recycling. 
The project’s Eco-Business Model Canvas process identified the following opportunities:  
1. A need to mainstream secondhand clothing sales and repair. The Circular Fix implemented by Arnotts– 
Brown Thomas provides one example of integrating repair into a mainstream retail space that should be 
explored further.  
2. A need to develop a large-scale industrial use for low-quality textiles. The Strength-Tex road-building 
project by UsedFULLY in New Zealand provides an illustrative example of such an initiative working in 
practice, again with certain caveats/questions.  
● Enhance the competitiveness, sustainable growth and resilience of the second-hand sector. 
The project findings indicated that further investment would need to be made in the charity retail sector 
in order for it to accept and sort textiles that cannot be sold in their shops. Investments would need to 
be made for example in personnel, transportation, storage space, sorting centres, and data collection and 
reporting. Partnerships already exist between charity retailers and textile recyclers but to increase the 
domestic capacity to divert post-consumer textiles from landfill and towards reuse, remanufacturing or 
other valuable activities, further development of the relationships and national infrastructure would need 
to be explored. 
 
7.      Next steps 
The next steps for creating textile circularity in Ireland and lessons learned through the Developing a 
Circular Textiles System for Ireland project are highlighted throughout this report. In particular, Sections 
4, 5 and 6 outline the project’s findings, recommendations and outcomes – all of which will be helpful in 
creating an environment for textile circularity and innovation in Ireland.

26 
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Acronyms and Annotations 
CTC 
Clean Technology Centre at MTU 
CTR 
Cookstown Textile Recyclers 
CRNI 
Community Resources Network Ireland 
DECC 
Department of the Environment, Climate Action and Communications 
EPA 
Environmental Protection Agency 
SVP 
Society of St Vincent de Paul 
Vincent’s 
Charity retail shops run by the Society of St Vincent de Paul 
WFD 
Waste Framework Directive 2018

30 
Annex 1: Assumptions and definitions 
Post-consumer Textiles  
Post-consumer textiles are textiles requiring separate collection (see definition below) that the public or 
commercial enterprises do not require anymore and have decided to reuse or dispose of. In the context 
of this research, the aim is to maximise the reuse of collected post-consumer textiles (in line with the 
waste hierarchy).  
Post-consumer textiles requiring separate collection 
In line with the definitions in Guidance for separate collection of municipal waste (Dubois et al., 2020), 
the minimum municipal waste streams to be separately collected under textiles include European Waste 
Codes (EWC) 200110 (clothes), 200111 (textiles), 150109 (textile packaging). Municipal waste includes 
mixed waste and separately collected waste from households and from other sources where such waste 
is similar in nature and composition to waste from households.  
Textiles included in this definition are clothing, linen and footwear such as used garments and home 
textiles (clothing, shoes & bags, bed linen, towels, tablecloths) and similar used textiles from private 
companies and public organisations (hospital linen, uniforms or workwear). Textiles excluded from this 
research are carpets with non-textile heavy backing material, duvets and pillows, textiles that are 
integrated into furniture (e.g., upholstery) and industrial textiles. 
Separate Collection Systems 
The EU Waste Framework Directive provides the following description of separate collection: ‘separate 
collection’ means collection whereby “waste is kept separate by type and nature” so as to facilitate “high 
quality recycling or recovery of waste” (European Parliament and Council, 2018).  In other words, 
materials collected separately must not be mixed with other waste streams so they may be dealt with 
based on their own specific characteristics. It is noted that post-consumer textiles obtained through 
existing collection systems (in-store drop-off, textile banks) are not classified as waste in Ireland. 
The European Commission provided further guidance in a 2020 document pertaining to municipal waste 
collection which states, “separate collection could be achieved through door-to-door collection, bring, 
and reception systems or other collection arrangements” (Dubois et al., 2020, pp 10). Building on these 
definitions, it was decided through consultation with the project steering committee that textile 
collection should be more extensive than at present in order to address the high percentage of textiles 
ending up as residual waste in Ireland.

31 
Local post-consumer textile management solutions 
It is recognised that exports for reuse will continue to play an important role in diverting post-consumer 
textiles from waste-to-energy and landfill. A recent report produced by the Institute of Economic Affairs 
in Kenya asserts that textile imports generate significant government revenue in terms of import taxes 
and also provide affordable clothing to large portions of the population (Institute of Economic Affairs 
(Kenya), 2020). Moreover, exporting textiles for reuse can be a more environmentally sustainable option 
than local alternatives such as downcycling or incineration.  
By identifying suitable local outlets for textile reuse or recycling, this research aims to inform actions in 
Ireland that will reduce the reliance in the post-consumer textile sector on exports, build local resilience, 
create local textile reuse opportunities and address some of the disruptive challenges posed by Covid-19 
(including the limitations of export, which has led to local stockpiling and a collapse in rag price) and 
fluctuating markets more broadly (threats of bans on imported textiles and the saturation of the larger 
international markets).   
This research begins from the position that such activities should prioritise reduction and reuse, over 
recycling or downcycling, in line with the waste hierarchy.

32 
Annex 2: Stakeholder Engagement Activities 
Engagement with stakeholders included the following: 
● Development of a project description document for various stakeholders to engage them in the 
project. 
● Project overview presentations at Charity Retail Ireland Steering Group meeting and a Charity 
Retail Ireland Member coffee morning. 
● Stakeholder workshop for the purposes of ranking separate collection systems against a set of 
criteria on 12 May 2021. 
● Project overview presentations to other stakeholders who collaborated on the project including 
the charity retail partner, Local Authorities, and Ballyhoura Development Company.  
● Direct discussions with project partners, project steering group, charity retailers, county councils, 
communications organisations in pilot areas, and commercial textile recyclers. 
● Stakeholder workshop at the PLATE conference in May 2021, which included a project overview, 
ideation session about separate textile collection systems, public communication, and potential 
business solutions. 
● Presentation at a RREUSE Textile Working Group on 13 July 2021. 
● Tours of the project’s innovation showcase were provided to stakeholders who were attending a 
CRNI event at the Rediscovery Centre on 28 September 2022. 
● Final stakeholder workshop at which preliminary findings and recommendations were presented 
for feedback on 19 October 2022 at the Rediscovery Centre. Tours of the project’s innovation 
showcase provided to in-person and online workshop attendees.

33 
Annex 3: Categorised List of Collection Systems 
Kerbside door-to-door collection: textiles are left outside domestic dwelling for collection possibly in 
partnership with municipal waste collection companies. 
Municipal kerbside waste collection - Door to door (kerbside) collections in partnership with municipal 
waste collection companies; Textiles separated but collected through regular waste collection service 
Door to door bag drops via collection bags delivered to householders by charity / commercial 
operators 
Collaborative waste collector partnering with charity 
Collaborative between charity and commercial textile recycler 
In-store drop-off at retailers: textiles are brought to a charity or commercial premises for direct 
donation. 
Charity shops - users bring garments to charity shop as a donation 
Commercial retailers - users bring garments back to retailer - commercial retailer take back schemes 
(e.g., receive a percentage of value as a store credit based on garment type and condition) 
Commercial retailer partners with charity 
Cash for clothes shops - users bring to shop in exchange for cash 
In-store consignment - users bring garments to consignment shop and receive a percentage of the sale 
A mobile application that tells consumers about the nearest location of a charity organisation and 
retail store, which collects used textile products - users bring garments to the charity org or retail store 
Home door-to-door collections: textiles are collected door-to-door by appointment using digital 
scheduling technology. 
Door to door collections by appointment using bespoke technology

34 
Ordered courier collects textiles 
Pickup of box of secondhand clothes same day new clothes are delivered 
Public collection points: textiles are donated by the public through publicly accessible textile 
collection points (e.g. boxes or banks) placed in high density or targeted collection points; these 
points may be fixed (e.g. in permanent locations) or temporary (e.g. mobile textile banks or event-
based collections). 
Donations to textile banks 
High density or targeted collection points 
Containers in the streets or on other public ground 
Mobile containers 
Bring-back sites 
Neighbourhood collection containers 
Containers in recycling centres/ civic amenity sites 
Collection points in libraries and shops 
Private collection points: textiles are donated to collection points (e.g. boxes or banks) placed in 
private or closed locations such as retail stores (in-store charity shop and commercial retail drop-off 
and take back schemes), schools, sports clubs, businesses etc.; these points may be fixed (e.g. in 
permanent locations) or temporary (e.g. mobile or event based collections). 
Collections in communities, businesses 
Collections in schools 
Apartment buildings/ backyards of multi-apartment housing

35 
Collections in sports clubs (e.g., GAA, leisure centres) 
Postal system: textiles returned to an address via post. 
Secondhand online clothing retailer - envelope sent to user from secondhand retailer for consignment 
Donate to secondhand online clothing retailers to benefit charity 
Brand mail-back - users are asked to mail their unwanted clothes back to brands 
Mail-back of unwanted clothes when a purchase is made (envelope included in new purchase) 
Donate to charity by post - (many ways but one is A biodegradable shopping bag can be made into an 
envelope by turning it inside out. A proper postage stamp with the address of the charity organisation 
helps consumers to easy donations). 
Peer to peer: textiles are given / sold / exchanged between members of the public. 
Peer-to-peer selling of secondhand clothing - user posts items for sale on social app 
Peer-to-peer swap/ free - in-person swap events 
Peer-to-peer online swap/ free 
Collection from brands: retailer/brand takes back textiles from consumer. 
Users return garments to brands and a portion they cannot resell - donate to charity (corporate 
donations) otherwise would goes to waste, also end of season stock/ surplus stock

36 
Annex 4: Stakeholder feedback on separate collection systems 
The 12 May 2021 stakeholder workshop included representatives from the following bodies: The European Commission's Directorate-General for the 
Environment (DG ENV), Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ireland’s Department of the Environment, Climate, and Communications (DECC), Local 
Authorities (Donegal County Council and Wicklow County Council), Community Resources Network Ireland (CRNI), Charity Retail Ireland, Society of St. Vincent’s 
de Paul (SVP), Oxfam Ireland, Cookstown Textile Recyclers, Zeronet, Key Waste (commercial waste collectors), Clean Technology Centre, Ballyhoura Development 
CLG. The following table presents stakeholder feedback on the separate collection systems. The criteria used to evaluate and rank each of the systems included 
the following: economic viability, scalability, convenience, impact on textile quality, impact on contamination, impact on the quantity of textiles in residual waste, 
impact on reuse of textiles in Ireland, carbon footprint and likelihood of uptake. 
Collection system 
Stakeholder feedback - benefits  
Stakeholder feedback - drawbacks 
1. Private collection points  
● Highly scalable, especially through GAA 
clubs and schools which are widespread in 
rural areas and in every town and village 
● This option is becoming increasingly 
widespread / visible currently 
● Expect to obtain high volumes and 
generally good quality 
● Event driven / local

37 
2. Public collection points  
● Some stakeholders felt that the fact textile 
banks are already widespread points to 
this being more scalable / making 
economic sense. 
● One stakeholder observed that clothing 
banks are less likely to be contaminated 
when branded by a charity. 
● It was noted this option is less convenient 
than the kerbside option. 
● Some stakeholders saw this to be less 
accessible / scalable especially in rural 
areas. In general, they noted public 
collection points would only be installed in 
areas of higher population, e.g. a small 
town. Therefore, for people living in rural 
areas the nearest collection point could be 
far away.  
3. Kerbside door-to-door collection 
● Highly scalable and accessible - ability to 
cover most of the country. People want 
something that is easy and responsive 
● Some stakeholders had experienced 
kerbside collections with SVP.  
● Expect this system would likely get the 
largest quantity. Volumes will probably be 
larger at the outset and then should settle 
down, but it was also noted that volumes 
would be seasonal. Stakeholders felt 
kerbside collections may also facilitate 
frequent collections (more than a few 
times a year).   
● It would be essential that there is a good 
communication campaign with it. 
Householders should be involved in 
separating quality at source, with 
guidance on how to do this.  
● Stakeholders suggested this may be the 
most effective as it is closest to existing 
systems for the public. Many people keep 
● Expect quality to be an issue - if 
commingled it would have a high potential 
for contamination (better to have a 
separate system - e.g., separate bag within 
the recycling stream). This system may 
involve a greater level of sorting at a later 
stage. It can be hard to match capacity 
with demand (as found by the experience 
with cages receiving WEEE in Brighton). 
● May be more challenging to pilot. Short 
term quality issues exist with kerbside 
collection because people see it as a waste 
collection. Education is therefore 
essential, but takes time. For example, 
with glass Ireland hasn't yet achieved 
national scalability though trialled caddies 
at householder level. 
● Likely that the collectors will ship this to 
the best outlet and this is likely to be 
exported

38 
items with the intention to donate but 
often convenience dictates that these kept 
items end up in the waste stream 
(convenience). 
4. Post / parcel service 
● Potential for rural and older people 
through the post office, and younger 
demographic who use this system now 
through depop and might be more likely 
to return goods by post.  
● This is a hassle for people - going to the 
post office. People hate hassle. 
● May see higher quality items returned, 
least likely to see contamination 
● Not likely to deliver on quantity 
● Would require subsidised post 
● It could work in the urban locations but 
not sure if people would want to pay 
either the recipient or the people 
providing the textiles. 
5. Home / door-to-door collections 
● Could be scalable if linked to other waste 
streams, the economics of textiles along 
probably not worthwhile  
● While providing this service may be 
difficult in a rural area, it could serve a 
need for parts of the county that have 
large distances to travel. 
● Appeals to a younger generation.  
● Hassle free 
● Would need to be responsive. 
● One stakeholder felt this could be as 
effective as kerbside collection. Econet 
uses wards in the UK so it becomes 
economically viable to collect. It's got to 
be face-to-face in terms of collection 
● Several stakeholders pointed out that this 
may not work in rural areas, due to a lack 
of supply chain / infrastructure. Would 
need a high volume to justify collection 
costs. 
● What about people who are offline? Allow 
for manual collections on the driver side. 
SMS would be another way of doing it. An 
app provides a richer experience than 
SMS.

39 
(emphasis on high value).   
● We know that the quality at the kerbside 
can be poor, so public facing/focused 
points can garner higher quality items.  
6. Comms only 
 
● Communication can be effective in 
combination with something else, but not 
on its own. It may create awareness but 
probably won't drive action and lead to 
less textiles in the MDR/waste bin.

40 
Annex 5: Demographics of Charleville, Arklow and Buncrana (2016) 
 
Population 
Households 
Female 
Male 
Under 19 
20-49 
50-64 
65+ 
National 
4,761,865 
1,707, 142 
2,407,437 
2,354,428 
1,309,368 
2,006,037 
808,893 
637,567 
 
 
50.56% 
49.44% 
27.5% 
42.13% 
16.99% 
13.39% 
Charleville 
3,919 
1,533 
1,979 
1,940 
1,094 
1,627 
577 
602 
 
 
50.4% 
49.6% 
27.9% 
41.5% 
14.7% 
15.3% 
Arklow

41 
13,163 
4,847 
6,738 
6,425 
3,948 
5,517 
2,152 
1,546 
 
 
51.1% 
48.9% 
30% 
41.9% 
16.3% 
11.7% 
Buncrana 
6,785 
2,530 
3,476 
3,309 
2,203 
2,694 
1,132 
936 
 
 
51.2% 
48.8% 
29.8% 
39.7% 
16.7% 
13.8% 
Central Statistics Office, 2017)

42 
Annex 6: Important points that informed which textiles to be accepted for collections 
The following are important points that informed which textiles would be accepted as part of 
collections: 
● Experience from the charity retailers that restricting donations to certain textile categories 
impacts consumer behaviour by turning potential donors away in favour of other, less restrictive 
collections. 
● Restricting donations to certain textile categories can undermine business models. Both 
commercial and charitable textile collectors rely on high and medium quality reusable textiles to 
underpin revenue. Directing high quality rewearable textiles to one channel over another may 
compromise that revenue. 
● Charity retailers and commercial textile recyclers have the expertise to sort textiles into 
categories for reuse. By designing pilots that would accept a wide variety of textiles, the project 
team sought to avoid de facto sorting of textiles by the public.

43 
Annex 7: Data collection protocols 
Initial data collection protocols 
Specific data collection protocols were developed for implementation as part of each pilot. These 
protocols specified that data would be gathered related to the following: 
● Quantities and qualities of textiles collected through the new systems being piloted. This would 
involve weighing and sorting collections in “saleable” and “rag/waste” categories. 
● Quantities and qualities of textiles collected through existing channels within a specific radius of 
the target area before and after the pilot; 
● Quantities and qualities of textiles disposed of via municipal waste collection before and after 
the pilot;  
● Costs of sorting / disposal of unsuitable materials collected via new vs. existing channels before 
and after the pilot.  
The charity partners were asked to retain samples of the rag product over a number of weeks in the lead 
up to the ‘material characterisation’, which would consist of a one day survey of this rag product, breaking 
it down into the material constituents, such as denim, cotton, polyester, neoprene, mixed fabric, etc. The 
rag would then be sold on to commercial textile recycling partners.  
Local St. Vincent de Paul stores in the pilot locations were asked to record donations made directly to 
their stores — e.g., the number of equivalent 10kg bags donated per week, the yield between saleable 
product and rag and the number of equivalent 10kg bags of rag per week. These data were to be shared 
with CTC and CRNI over the course of the pilot on a periodic basis and compared against typical donation 
levels to the same store prior to the pilot commencing (using the same metrics). A template was 
developed for the charity retail partner to record data on direct donations and donations to the additional 
collection systems as shown in Table 3.3. The project team encountered significant difficulties in 
obtaining said data from charity stores due to staffing shortages at said stores and the labour intensive 
work involved in sorting clothing and gathering associated data. Further planned work was to involve 
data validation through random sampling and weighing of retained bags by CTC, on a frequent basis 
initially so that a sample of 40 plus bags are weighed. This weighing exercise was designed to help inform 
the exact degree of accuracy/uncertainty.  
Table 3.3: Draft template for reporting data on textile  collection quantities and quality direct to store.

44 
For the week: 
Donations 
 
Direct to the shop 
From the new clothes banks 
No. of 10 kg bags donated 
(equivalent) 
 
 
% yield  
(saleable product) 
 
 
No. of 10 kg bags of rag 
product (equivalent) 
 
In addition to measuring the quantity and quality of textiles gathered through separate collections 
systems, a waste characterisation study was proposed as part of the pilots. Waste characterisation 
studies measure the composition of waste generated in a given waste stream. In the case of this project, 
such a study would quantify and categorise the textiles generated through household waste streams over 
the course of the pilot. This would provide a basis for understanding the impact of separate textile 
collections on household textile waste generation in the pilot locations. The focus on waste streams, 
rather than recycling, is justified by previous national waste characterisation studies that have shown that 
the majority of textiles collected at a household level occurs in the general waste bin (89%). Protocols 
were developed for these waste characterisation surveys with one of the main local waste management 
contractors. 
Final data collection protocols 
Data collection sought to capture the following: 
● Quantities of textiles collected in new channels during each pilot; 
● Quality of textiles (rag v non-rag) collected in new channels during each pilot; 
● Detailed quality analysis on the rag fraction collected in Charleville on 20-bag sample to identify 
potential textile streams of value; 
● Costs associated with separate collection systems.

45 
Sample of data collection sheet provided to charity partner 
For the week from: 
Number of bags donated direct 
to the shop for the week 
Number of bags of  
rag collected for recycling  
Mon 4th – Sat 9th April 2022 
 
 
Mon 11th – Sat 16th April  
 
 
Mon 18th – Sat 23rd April  
 
 
Mon 25th – Sat 30th April  
 
 
Mon 2nd – Sat 7th May  
 
 
Mon 9th  – Sat 14th May 
 
 
Mon 16th  – Sat 21st May 
 
 
Mon 23rd  – Sat 28th May 
 
 
Mon 30th May  – Sat 4th Jun 
 
 
Mon 6th Jun  – Sat 11th Jun 
 
 
Mon 13th – Sat 18th Jun 
 
 
Mon 20th – Sat 25th Jun 
 
 
Mon 27th Jun– Sat 2nd Jul

46 
Annex 8: Prototype of permanent private and public collection points 
Permanent private and public collection points were professionally designed and were to be made from 
cardboard, and as such were low cost, easily transportable and branded for maximum visual appeal. The 
worked-up design and prototype is shown below. Collection points were intended to be hosted in charity 
retail spaces, community organisations, and local businesses and would need to be continually serviced 
by staff.

47 
Annex 9: Key lessons learned from pilot design process 
Resources: the costs of the initial pilot design would have significantly exceeded the project budget. 
Human and physical resources for carrying out the pilots were found to be insufficient. These conditions 
were exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Indeed, the Vincent’s charity retail shops in Arklow and 
Charleville had lost significant staff and volunteer capacity. In both such locations, resources, such as vans 
for collection and storage space, were also very limited. A weekly servicing of permanent private and 
public collection points would therefore have required additional external resources. Initial costing for 
procuring a van and driver as well labour time for sorting collected textiles was estimated at approx €750 
- 1,060 / week depending on the number of sorting staff required. The initial plan was to run these 
collections over a six-month period with projected costs therefore hovering between €19,500 - 27,560. 
These costs would have significantly exceeded the €3,000 budget for this part of the project. The waste 
characterisation surveys would also have exceeded the budget of the project. As such, these were not 
carried out either.  
Health and Safety: Many of the commercial retailers, and especially food retailers, who were approached 
about placing permanent collection points (e.g. light transportable collection boxes in Figure 3.2) in or 
near their premises raised concerns about sanitation issues associated with dumping or used textiles 
more generally. The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in new health and safety regulations and concerns. For 
instance, in Buncrana, local businesses and community organisations were either closed or unwilling to 
host the boxes due to Covid-19 transmission concerns. In Charleville and Arklow, concerns were also 
raised that collection points would attract illegal dumping and would therefore require monitoring or 
CCTV surveillance. The anticipated costs of addressing these concerns were beyond the budget of the 
project.  
Competing collections: both Covid-19 and the war in the Ukraine influenced donation patterns. This 
included new consumption and donation behaviours, as well as diverting textiles through special 
donation drives. These factors impacted the availability of baseline data and the ability to run collections 
in certain locations. In Buncrana in particular, community members and groups were already running 
community collections for the war in Ukraine prior to the pilot intervention. These collections were 
considered to be diverting significant quantities of textiles so it was felt that layering community 
collections in this location would not generate data that could be compared with the other locations. In 
Buncrana many of the local schools and sports clubs also had textile collection agreements with other 
entities, including commercial textile recyclers and charities.

48 
Delayed engagement with charity partners at a local level: The exploratory phase and also the unique 
charity offtake partner structure (e.g., decentralised decision making) delayed the outreach and direct 
contact with local Vincent’s charity retail shops in Charleville and Arklow. Capacity constraints were 
therefore identified late in the pilot planning phase, which led to unanticipated timeline and budgetary 
constraints.

49 
Annex 10: Alternative options explored 
A number of alternative options were explored, including the following: 
● Obtain additional sources of funding to supplement the project budget. A number of funding 
opportunities were identified but it was not possible to pursue these per Green Enterprise project 
terms and conditions.  
● Overcoming human resource constraints by availing of secondment from labour activation 
programmes and contracting private resources (e.g. a van) to aid with servicing textile 
collection points. In both Charleville and Arklow the project team discussed options with local 
collaborators. These included the potential secondment of Community Employment scheme 
participants, through the Probation Services, or through private contractors.  
● Leasing a storage and sorting space next to the charity partner’s shop in Charleville was explored. 
However, it was determined that the cost (€550 per month) could be used for other aspects of 
the pilot and there was a charity shop partner preference for the team to be located under the 
primary premises. 
● Bringing in another charity partner who may have increased capacity to participate in the 
interventions. However this would have caused additional delays to the project timeline in terms 
of identifying new locations, intervention design, communications, and developing new 
relationships with local stores. Such delays would not have allowed for the timely completion of 
the project.  
● Replacing the indoor permanent collection boxes with secure, weatherproof wheelie bins. This 
type of bin was identified. However, location options were limited and this option would have 
required hiring a contractor with a van to collect regularly for just two locations. This challenge 
was discussed with the Circular Textiles Steering Committee members who confirmed that 
pursuing textile box hosts would be an extremely time intensive task and would not yield the 
desired results.  
● Replacing the indoor permanent collection boxes with a larger outdoor metal clothing bank in a 
business carpark location. However, the business management was not receptive due to dumping 
concerns.

50 
● Reducing the number of pilot locations to one, layering the interventions over time - this was 
not adopted as it was felt critical to the findings to trial different collection systems in different 
locations 
● Reducing the length of the pilot to reduce servicing costs. The length of the pilots were ultimately 
reduced due to delays to the project design, but the cost for fixed collection points remained 
prohibitive. 
● Removing the layered approach so the pilot involved only one intervention in two of the pilot 
locations (and communications-only in the remaining location) to reduce overall budget cost. This 
was adopted in the final design. 
● Shortening the length of the pilot intervention to four months from the original six months. This 
was adopted in the final design.

51 
Annex 11: Communications outputs 
Communications outputs included the following: 
● Branding / identity, including name, logo, colours, messaging in consultation with a graphic 
designer.  
● A project webpage and three location-specific websites that included project information and 
maps specifying donation points. 
● A donation infographic/leaflet about the textiles that would be accepted for donation. 
● Leaflet distribution to 900 homes in Charleville and 6,222 homes in Arklow. In Buncrana there 
was no leaflet distribution, though leaflets and posters were distributed at the local launch of the 
pilot. 
Branding/identity 
    
 
   
 
Project webpage 
https://crni.ie/circular-textiles/  
Three location-specific websites  
Charleville: www.donatecharleville.ie ; Arklow: www.donatearklow.ie ; Buncrana: www.donatebuncrana.ie  
Donation infographic/leaflet about the textiles that would be accepted for donation

52 
Leaflet distribution to 900 homes in Charleville, to 6,222 homes in Arklow, distribution at local launch 
in Buncrana. 
 
 
Leaflets delivered to households in Charleville     Leaflets delivered to households in Arklow 
 
Leaflet and poster distributed at the Buncrana launch 
Separate launch events in each location that were promoted locally in collaboration with 
stakeholders, community groups, and Local Authorities 
 
     Launch event in Charleville         Launch event in Arklow                Launch event in Buncrana 
Additional media coverage garnered from each pilot is included on the location-specific websites.

53 
Annex 12: Charleville pilot details 
In Charleville three kerbside door-to-door textile collections took place. The first collection took place on 
31/3/2022, the second on 28/4/2022, and the third on 26/5/2022. Each of these collections extended to 
a catchment area of roughly 300 households, meaning that 900 households had the opportunity to 
engage with the collection pilot in total. Groupings were established on a purely functional basis through 
consultation with the Vincent’s Charleville and were based on catchment areas used for stations of the 
processions17 by the Holy Cross Parish Office of the Roman Catholic Church outlined in the parish 
newsletter dated 27 February 2022. The geographical extent of these groupings are also contained within 
the town boundaries. Hinterlands were intentionally excluded due to the highly dispersed housing 
patterns that are common to rural Ireland (Gkartzios & Scott, 2009). A kerbside collection in such 
locations would have been prohibitively expensive for this project.  
The three collections were promoted through a launch event (see Figure 3.5), flyer drop by Ballyhoura 
Development CLG to catchment households in advance of each collection as well as through engagement 
with local media and social media channels18. Ballyhoura Development Company CLG also provided a van 
and driver for the collection days and brought the collected bags to Vincent’s Charleville. CTC 
accompanied Ballyhoura Development Company CLG on the neighbourhood collection days, the 
additional collection at the local secondary school, and provided data on the number and weight of the 
bags. 
 
Figure 3.5: Launch event in Charleville 
                                                           
17 religious processions that are typically held in the weeks prior to Easter religious celebrations 
18 https://www.mywaste.ie/news/donate-don-t-waste-launched-in-charleville/; 
https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/munster/arid-40829162.html; 
https://www.facebook.com/CRNIreland/videos/525088152620059/;

54 
The quantities and qualities of textiles collected are summarised in Table 3.4 below. The first door-to-
door collection (31 March 2022) yielded low quantities of textiles with only 12 bags collected despite 
extensive local media coverage. Additional promotional work was undertaken in advance of the second 
door-to-door collection (28 April 2022), including requests to community stakeholders, the Local 
Authority, and the EPA to share on social media, targeted social media ads and a community notice in a 
local paper. 37 bags were collected through the second collection. 21 bags were collected through the 
third collection (26 May 2022). 
All bags from two of the three kerbside door-to-door collections were sorted in order to provide an 
indication of the quality of textiles gathered in each instance in terms of resaleable and rag qualities. 
Table 3.4 shows that a total of 70 bags were obtained through kerbside collection from a catchment of 
900 households.  
 
Figure 3.6: Flyers delivered to households in Charleville 
A fourth event-based private collection was later conducted as part of the Charleville pilot. Transition 
year students at a local secondary school ran this private collection event for other students under the 
Donate Don’t Waste campaign. The college had recently served as a community drop-off point for 
collections in aid of Ukraine in the context of the ongoing Russian invasion. This additional Donate Don’t 
Waste collection was run opportunistically on an exploratory basis. However, as this collection involved 
an entirely different collection methodology, the project team determined that the data was not suitable 
to include as part of the kerbside door-to-door collection figures.  
Table 3.4: Summary of collections in Charleville Co. Cork 
Collection 
Date 
No. of Bags 
Weight (kg) 
Resaleable 
Rag

55 
1 
31/3/2022 
12 
56 
9% 
91% 
2 
28/4/2022 
37 
234.5 
37% 
63% 
3 
26/5/2022 
21 
105 
No data 
No data 
4 
26/05/2022 
22 
100 
No data 
No data 
Total kerbside 
door-to-door 
(excluding 
collection 4) 
 
70  
395.5 (in 70 
bags) 
31.6%(from 49 
bags) 
68.4% 
(From 
49 bags) 
Total drop-off 
 
22 
100 
 
 
 
Figure 3.7: Kerbside door-to-door collections in Charleville. Captions from left to right: Ballyhoura 
Development CLG provided van, driver & staff support; Donations left out for collection on the day; 
Donations ready for sorting at Vincent’s Charleville shop 
Assuming that multiple households did not contribute to the same bag, this amounts to a maximum of 
roughly 7% of households in the catchment engaging with the collection. Via kerbside door-to-door, 395.6 
kg of textiles was collected from a catchment of 900 households, or 0.44 kg per household. 31.6% of the 
entire weight was deemed to be resaleable. As will be shown later, this is significantly higher than the 
quantities of resaleable textiles that commercial textile recyclers receive through kerbside door-to-door 
collections (0.5% - Comparing qualitative data from non-pilot sources).

56 
In addition, material analysis was carried out on a sample of 62 kg, or 42% of the total rag generated 
during the Charleville pilot. Eight individual sample rag bags were analysed to examine and illustrate the 
variation and composition of materials classified as “rag”. The composition of the sample is summarised 
in Table 3.5 19. 
Table 3.5: Material composition of rag sample from Charleville collection 
All fabrics together 
Average % by weight 
mixed fabric  
44% 
unlabelled  
17% 
polyester  
13% 
denim  
12% 
cotton  
12% 
acrylic 
1% 
viscose 
0.5% 
nylon  
0.4% 
The composition of the sampled textile rag in terms of whether it was clothing or household textiles 
was looked at. This is summarised in Table 3.6. 
Table 3.6: Composition of Charleville rag sample: clothing vs. household 
Type of textile 
Average % by weight 
Clothing  
94% 
Household 
6% 
A more detailed look at the composition of the clothing and household textiles fractions in terms of the 
different types of fabrics is as in Table 3.7. 
Table 3.7: Material composition of Charleville rag sample: clothing vs. households 
Textile type 
Fabric type 
Average % by weight 
                                                           
19 Note: ‘mixed fabric’ is a labelled blend of two or more material types, while ‘unlabelled’ is a textile 
item without any label to indicate its composition.

57 
Clothing 
mixed fabric  
41% 
unlabelled  
15% 
polyester  
13% 
denim  
12% 
cotton  
11% 
acrylic 
1% 
viscose 
0.5% 
nylon  
0.4% 
Household 
mixed fabric  
3% 
unlabelled 
2% 
cotton  
1% 
 
Based on the Charleville pilot, a number of points are worth noting and carry insight for future separate 
collection systems. First, there was a difficulty in gaining access to resources for the purposes of 
implementing the project. This included a van for collecting textiles, personnel to carry out the 
collections, storage, and personnel to carry out the sorting of textiles into categories. Indeed, the 
collections themselves would have been prohibitively expensive had Ballyhoura Development Company 
CLG not come on board. Second, there was difficulty and delays in gathering data for the pilot period 
from the local charity shops. Again, these points highlight the resources and infrastructure that will be 
needed to carry out separate collection and data reporting on a national scale.

58 
Annex 13: Arklow pilot details 
In Arklow, Co. Wicklow, the public were invited to donate textiles at two public event-based collection 
points at a local secondary school and Arklow recycling centre. These locations were selected due to 
public knowledge of site locations and ease of access. The former is located near the centre of the town, 
while the latter is in close proximity to the M11 motorway. A third event-based collection was initially 
planned. However, the intended location of the collection did not have sufficient space to temporarily 
store the textiles.   
In the case of the two event-based collections that did take place, those wishing to donate were 
encouraged to fill their own bags with clean, dry, unwanted clothing and home textiles. The collections 
were again publicised through flyers (see Figure 3.8), social media posts, and via local printed and radio 
news outlets20. A print and distribution company was engaged to assist with the flyer drop to 6,222 
households in the Arklow area. This is slightly larger than the official number of households in Arklow per 
the 2016 census (Central Statistics Office, 2017). As such, this figure may reflect an area that is slightly 
greater than the official boundaries, or increases in the number of households since 2016.  
 
Figure 3.8: Arklow open / public event-based collection flyers delivered to households   
Both collections took place on weekdays due to availability of human resources required to undertake 
the collections. The school based collection was implemented in collaboration with Transition Year 
students and teachers working at the school. The donation window was open for two hours (3.30pm - 
5.30pm) based on the school and students’ schedules so public drive-up access would be available. On 
the collection day, CRNI and Transition Year students accepted donated bags from members of the public. 
A second collection was held at Arklow Recycling Centre on Wednesday, 1 June 2022 with a 5 hour 
                                                           
20 
https://www.independent.ie/regionals/wicklow/news/arklow-joins-nationwide-initiative-aiming-to-create-circular-economy-for-clothing-
and-textiles-41653817.html; 
https://www.eastcoast.fm/news/wicklow-news/arklow-encouraged-to-donate-clothes-this-week-as-part-of-
donate-dont-waste-pilot/; https://wicklownews.net/2022/05/donate-dont-waste-clothing-and-home-textiles-pilot-coming-to-arklow/

59 
window open for donations (10am - 3pm) in partnership with Wicklow County Council. At this event, CTC 
accepted donated bags from members of the public.  
Bags from both collections were stored in situ until they could be collected by SVP East Region staff and 
processed at SVP East Region’s regional sorting centre. SVP East Region staff carried out a manual sort on 
a sample of 20 bags from each collection. The sample from the secondary school was dumped due to 
contamination and health and safety concerns. Table 3.8 shows  the composition of the sample from the 
recycling centre collection. 90% of the textiles gathered were of unsaleable/rag quality, while 10% was 
resaleable. Additional data categorised 60% of the textiles as women’s clothing, 20% was categorised as 
men’s wear, and 20% was for children and babies. Half of the resaleable textiles were from the women’s 
clothing category. The other half was sourced from the children’s/baby clothes category. None of the 
men’s wear was resaleable. Data on the subsequent treatment of the 90% portion of the sample that 
went for recycling is not available. Much of the cost of this activity was absorbed by SVP East Region, 
while a payment was made to the national office for the service of processing additional textiles for the 
three pilot locations.  
 
Figure 3.9: Launch event in Arklow 
This model worked well in establishing community involvement. Feedback was received from members 
of the public on collection days. Many noted that they were in favour of the collections overall. However, 
many also expressed a preference for those collections to take place outside of working hours or on the 
weekend. One participant suggested that putting a large collection box at the Arklow Recycling Centre 
out on a Saturday for drop-offs would be more convenient. This may explain the relatively low level of 
engagement observed in Arklow - just 262 bags from a catchment of 6,222 households. The data collected 
from this pilot are presented in Table 3.8 below.

60 
 
Figure 3.10: Arklow event-based collection at secondary school 
 
Figure 3.11: Arklow event-based collection at Arklow Recycling Centre 
Due to capacity constraints with the local charity partner, the data collection associated with the pilot 
was limited. In particular, qualitative data was only obtained from one of the two collections. The 100 
bags donated during the first collection were disposed of due to contamination of a number of bags and 
associated health and safety concerns. Of the 162 bags from the second collection, 25 were sorted for 
quality. 24 bags were categorised as rag, while one bag was of sufficient quality for immediate resale.  
Table 3.8: Post-consumer textile quantities and quality from community collections in Arklow 
Collection 
Date 
No. of Bags 
Weight (kg) 
Saleable 
Rag 
1 - Secondary 
School 
18/05/22 
100 
497.7 
Unknown 
Unknown 
2 - Arklow 
Recycling 
Centre 
01/06/22 
162 
823.4 
5-10% 
90-95% 
Total 
 
262 
1,321.1kg 
5-10% 
90-95%

61 
The project team used the figure of 6,222 as the catchment area for the Arklow collection based on the 
number of houses to which promotional flyers were delivered. 1,321 kg of textiles were collected in 
Arklow as a whole, representing a rate of 0.21 kg per household per collection.

62 
Annex 14: Buncrana pilot details 
 
Number of 10kg bags donated to Buncrana Vincent’s shop per week 
Number of 10kg bags donated to clothing banks in Buncrana during 2022 
Additional textile bank in Buncrana (note: data was not included from this additional intervention)
 
Textile banks installed behind the Buncrana library with support from Donegal County Council 
(approval), Cookstown Textile Recyclers (installation) and Vincent’s Buncrana (servicing)

63 
Annex 15: Behaviours and attitudes survey analysis 
Behaviours and attitudes survey: 
 
     Behaviours and attitudes survey analysis: 
In each of the pilot collection locations a behaviours and attitudes online survey was carried out using the 
SurveyMonkey platform and was promoted in each of the pilot locations alongside the communication 
activities. The aim of the surveys was to gain an understanding of potential differences in attitudes and 
behaviours toward separate collection of textiles in the different pilot locations. Responses are 
summarised in Table 3.9. As shown in the table, a large portion of the responses in each case was deemed 
to be invalid.21 Nonetheless, in each instance a usable sample was obtained. These results are not 
representative at a national level, but provide an indication of the attitudes and behaviours among the 
population in the pilot locations. Certain biases in responses must be noted as they relate to online 
surveys: under-coverage and self-selection Bethlehem (2010). In these two ways, the online survey does 
not represent a randomised sample from the entire population. Rather, it is a self-selected sample from 
the portion of the population with access to the internet. However, the project team explored some of 
                                                           
21 Invalid responses are those originating outside of the pilot location or surrounding area based on either the answer or phone numbers 
provided by the survey respondent, where the respondent heard about the campaign, and/or the presence of an IP address from another country

64 
the biases through alternative analysis and determined the results did not differ significantly from those 
presented below. 
Table 3.9: Overview of online survey 
Location 
No. of responses 
No. of valid responses 
Arklow 
223 
79 
Charleville 
113 
98 
Buncrana 
102 
39 
Figures 3.16 - 3.21 illustrate some of the key results of the survey. The data did not indicate dramatically 
different attitudes toward post-consumer textiles between different locations. Respondents highlighted 
the same top five reasons for getting rid of textiles, the same top three places where they would dispose 
of textiles and identified similar factors that would affect their motivations to donate. The vast majority 
of respondents claimed that they do in fact avoid simply dumping textiles (Figure 3.18). Donations to 
charity shops is the leading preference for people across all pilot locations (>70%), followed by textile 
banks, and passing on the family / friends. All other options were below 25%.   
In Arklow and Charleville — where schools were involved in the pilots and more young people responded 
to the survey — a high proportion of respondents indicated “it does not fit anymore” as the leading 
reason for getting rid of an item of clothing / home textile, perhaps due to growth. The leading reasons 
across the three pilot areas are lack of fit, lack of need, damage, worn, and no longer liking the item 
(Figure 3.8).  
In all pilot locations, more than 88% of survey respondents said that they either know of a few places to 
donate textiles that are within reasonable reach or know of a charity shop or clothing bank within 
reasonable reach. Although respondents highlighted that better access to a charity shop would motivate 
them to increase donations (Figure 3.20), it appears the areas are reasonably well served. What may be 
more significant are indications that knowledge of what happens to the textiles donated, what kinds of 
textiles could be donated, who benefits, and how the environment benefits could be important 
motivators (Figure 3.20). A particularly useful response is that across all locations more than 50% of 
survey respondents indicated that they would have clothing and/or home textiles available for donation 
every four to six months (Figure 3.21) and could indicate an appropriate frequency for textile collections.

65 
Figure 3.16: Age of survey respondents      
Figure 3.17: Why do you get rid of clothing / home textiles?

66 
Figure 3.18: How do you get rid of unwanted clothing / home textiles      
Figure 3.19: Considering distance and accessibility, how convenient is your nearest charity shop or 
clothing bank?

67 
Figure 3.20: What would motivate you to start/increase donations of unwanted clothing / home 
textiles?      
Figure 3.21: How often do you have clothing / home textiles available for donation?

68 
Annex 16: Data modelling at a national scale 
The initial intention of the project was to utilise the data generated during the pilots to model anticipated 
qualities and quantities of textiles that would be generated by different separate collection systems if 
those systems were scale up to a national level. This exercise was carried out and is outlined in the 
following. However, a key prerequisite for carrying out this task process was the generation of high quality 
data through the pilots. This objective was not achieved. The following limitations were identified in 
relation to the pilot data.  
● The timeframe of the project: collections in the pilot locations were run over the course of just 
3-4 months during the Summer. As such, the timeline of the project was not sufficient to account 
for seasonal variations in the quantities and categories of textiles that might be donated.  
● The number of samples: the pilots involved just three and two collections in Charleville and 
Arklow respectively. As such, the data is based on a small number of samples that cannot be 
generalised to a national scale.  
● Differences in reporting of data: the samples from the Charleville pilot were analysed in terms 
of broad categories of resaleable and rag, and then in terms of the material composition in high 
resolution. The samples from the Arklow pilot were analysed much differently. 25 bags were 
analysed and divided into the following categories: men’s wear; women’s wear; children’s wear. 
Saleable vs. rag categories were reported within these categories. Also reported were the most 
frequent materials encountered. While there were similarities in how the qualities of textiles 
were reported, these variations make it difficult to compare between datasets.  
 
Kerbside door-to-door collections nationally per annum (tonnes) 
 
Resaleable (31.6%)  
Rag (68.4%) 
Total 
Quarterly 
949.41 
2,055.05 
3,004.462 
Bi-annual 
474.70 
1027.52 
1502.23

69 
Event-based drop-off nationally per annum (tonnes) 
 
Resaleable (10%)  
Rag (90%) 
Total 
Quarterly 
144.99 
1304.88 
1449.86 
Bi-annual 
72.49 
652.44 
724.93 
 Comparing qualitative data from non-pilot sources 
Due to the limitations pertaining to the pilot data, an additional analytic task was undertaken. Data were 
gathered from a range of non-pilot sources to provide a broader indication of textile qualities that may 
be generated through separate textile collection systems. In relation to the non-pilot data the following 
should be noted. 
1. Secondary data were collected for the purposes of different studies and so did not have a 
coherent data collection and categorisation protocol. Data were standardised post-hoc. 
2. Primary data collection relied heavily on the voluntary labour and input of specific individuals. A 
commercial textile recycler (Cookstown Textile Recyclers (CTR)), for instance, gathered data in 
line with their own internal quality categories. Similarly, data from the SVP East Region sorting 
facility adhered to internally defined criteria. 
3. As will be evident in the overview of data presented in Table 3.12 below that there were 
differences in the categorisation of textile qualities. For this reason, we present a range of 
possible values for qualities of textiles generated through each collection method, where 
relevant. 
Table 3.12: Data sources used 
Source No. 
Source 
Textile 
collection 
system  
Data 
collection 
method 
Scale 
Timescale 
Categories 
of 
measureme
nt

70 
1 
NATEX 
Charity shop 
and clothing 
banks 
Data 
collected by 
Environmen
tal 
Protection 
Agency 
(EPA) and 
Charity 
Retail 
Ireland 
National 
One year - 
2019 
Quantities 
by 
collection 
method; 
onward 
destination.  
2 
Charity 
Retail 
Ireland 
Charity shop 
and clothing 
banks 
Data 
provided by 
members, 
aggregated 
nationally 
and 
provided 
openly 
National 
One year - 
2020 
Quantities 
by 
collection 
method; 
onward 
destination  
3 
Cookstown 
Textile 
Recyclers 
(CTR) 
Charity 
shop, 
kerbside, 
and clothing 
banks      
Trained 
textile 
sorter 
recorded 
quality over 
four days 
Unknown 
June 2022 
Quantities 
by 
collection 
method; 
onward 
destination 
4 
The Society 
of St. 
Vincent de 
Paul (SVP) 
Clothing 
banks 
Trained 
textile 
sorter 
recorded 
Six counties 
in northeast 
of Ireland 
June 2022 
Material 
composition
; onward 
destination

71 
quality over 
three days 
5 
Charleville 
pilot 
collection 
Kerbside 
door-to-
door 
collection of 
textiles  
Data 
collected by 
CTC and 
Vincent’s 
Charleville 
charity 
retail shop 
staff and 
volunteers 
Catchment 
of 900 
households 
Three non-
consecutive 
days in 
March, 
April, and 
May 2022 
Quantity in 
kg; awaiting 
quality on a 
limited 
sample 
6 
Arklow pilot 
collection 
event-based 
drop-off 
point 
Data 
collected by 
CRNI, CTC, 
and SVP 
East Region 
sorting 
centre staff 
Catchment 
of 4847 
households 
Two non-
consecutive 
days in May 
and June 
2022 
Quantity in 
kg;  
Quality on a 
limited 
sample 
The four additional data sources include the following. First, data were compiled from a previous study 
funded by the EPA, the Nature and Extent of Post-consumer Textiles in Ireland (O'Leary et al., 2021), 
which was completed in 2019 and is national in scope. Second, data were provided by Charity Retail 
Ireland — the umbrella group for charities who operate retail shops to fundraise for their causes. These 
data relate to the year 2020 and were gathered from 40 Charity Retail Ireland member organisations 
operating 463 retail outlets. Third, a commercial textile recycler (CTR) in Northern Ireland carried out a 
manual sort on three tonnes of clothing. One tonne was collected from each of three different systems: 
charity shop donations, kerbside door-to-door collection, and textile bank collection. Data were provided 
on the textile collection system, and onward destination of the textiles across five categories. Fourth, SVP 
staff gathered data at one of their sorting centres pertaining to a manual sort of 1100 textile items. Data 
were gathered on the quality of the items in terms of material composition. All such textiles were

72 
gathered through SVP branded clothing banks in six northeastern counties of the Republic of Ireland. 
Rows 5 and 6 in Table 3.12 pertain to data generated through the two pilot collections.  
In bringing these data together qualitative categories used by CTR were utilised. These categories were 
deemed to be suitable due to the focus of this study on 1) textile collection systems and 2) identifying 
end-of-life solutions for textiles. In addition, these same categories have been used in previous studies 
(Botticello, 2012). These categories are outlined below.  
● Suitable for resale: these items can be resold directly to consumers without repair or alteration. 
● Exported for resale to high value markets: these items typically require some repair and/or 
alteration. Higher value markets typically include African and Eastern European markets.  
● Export for resale and remanufacturing in medium value markets: there was a high degree of 
uncertainty around such items. These are exported, often to Pakistan where there is a significant 
consumer textile resale market for reuse and remanufacturing into medium value items such as 
rugs (Anzak et al., 2019). 
● Pulping and downcycling: lower quality textiles that are shredded for industrial wipes and 
padding.  
● Waste / Energy recovery: low-quality textiles incinerated for electricity generation. 
Data were compiled from the four sources detailed in Table 3.12 and were divided into these same 
qualitative categories while also specifying the collection system. The results of the process are presented 
in Table 3.13. Each of the data sources did not match exactly with the qualitative categories used. For this 
reason, minimum (min) and maximum (max) possible values are presented in several cases. Additionally, 
data was not available in all instances. For instance, only the CTR data provided a breakdown of quality 
in relation to textiles gathered through kerbside door-to-door collection.   
Table 3.13: Overview of compiled data 
 
Resaleable / 
high value 
Exported for 
resale - high 
value 
Exported for 
resale - 
medium value 
Pulping / 
downcycling 
Waste / 
energy 
recovery 
Charity shop collection 
CTR 
2.3% 
58% 
31% 
7.6% 
1.1%

73 
Natex  
48.6% 
51.% 
 No data 
Charity Retail 
Ireland  
50% 
50% 
0.0% 
Kerbside door-to-door collection 
CTR 
0.5% 
43% 
26% 
24.2% 
5.5% 
Textile bank collection 
CTR 
4.50% 
47% 
27% 
17.8% 
3.6% 
SVP 
50% 
50% 
0% 
Natex 
0% 
70 - 75% 
30% 
1% 
Charity Retail 
Ireland 
50% 
50% 
0% 
In comparing these data there are a number of points worth noting. First, these data indicate that the 
vast majority of post-consumer textiles have value either through local resale or export. Indeed, these 
four datasets indicate that between 0.5% and 50% of textiles collected across the three systems have 
resale potential within Ireland. Importantly, CTR often obtains textiles only after charity partners extract 
the resaleable items (discussed further below) which helps to explain the lower figures of resaleable items 
reported by CTR. In all instances, at least 50% of textile had value in export markets and 
pulping/downcycling. 
Looking 
at 
the 
datasets 
where 
subdivisions 
between 
export 
and 
pulping/downcycling end-points, higher percentages of textiles are generally destined for export markets 
than pulping/downcycling. Similarly, the data from the project’s pilot collections indicate that 31.6% and 
10% of textile generated through kerbside and event-based drop-off respectively are suitable for 
rewearing through resale within Ireland. Finally, all datasets support the assertion that a very small 
portion of textiles are sent for waste/energy recovery via incineration in order to generate electricity, 
representing an average of 2% across all data sources.

74 
The high proportion of textiles destined for export presents a particular challenge. Through engaging with 
stakeholders the project team learned that the majority of this amount is exported to West African and 
Eastern European markets. However, the market in Eastern Europe evaporated after the Russian invasion 
of Ukraine in February 2022. Exports will remain an important outlet for textiles and indeed the Mitumba 
Institute & Research Centre argues the secondhand clothing sector makes a fundamentally important 
economic contribution to African economies (Prashar, 2022). Specifically, many African consumers have 
low purchasing power and therefore need access to relatively inexpensive clothing options. Indeed, it is 
believed that four-fifths of people in the African continent wear secondhand clothing (Prashar, 2022). At 
the same time, a study carried out by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre argues that many 
export markets in Africa and Asia are becoming oversaturated and will therefore have limited capacity to 
take additional textiles from European countries (Kohler et al., 2021). Kohler et al. (2021) also anticipate 
that as the volume of collected textiles increases the quality of those same textiles will decrease. These 
points support the need to develop domestic solutions for dealing with additional quantities of textiles 
from new separate collection systems to support local business opportunities, jobs and resilience to 
supply chain shocks.  
Second, there is significant variation in the results from each dataset in terms of the textiles gathered 
through each collection method. For instance, the amount of high quality resaleable textiles collected 
through direct charity shop donations was reported as 2.3% by CTR, 50% by Charity Retail Ireland, and 
48% in the NATEX report. Some of this variation can be explained by understanding the processes through 
which post-consumer textiles pass. In this instance, the low figure reported by CTR is likely due to charity 
retailers receiving donations, taking the highest quality items for resale, and  subsequently passing the 
leftover textiles to CTR. Other differences in the data between sources are due to different categorisation 
and reporting protocols. As such, these figures should only be taken as a broad indication of the 
distribution of textile quality across the sector, which will vary depending on the categorisation and 
methodology used.  
Third, qualitative data is very limited in relation to certain collection systems. For instance, only one 
source (Charity Retail Ireland) identified end destinations for textiles gathered through kerbside door-to-
door collection. Charity Retail Ireland and NATEX identify only “reused” — meaning suitable for resale in 
Ireland — and “recycled” - which means that the remainder is sent to a commercial textile recycler. These 
same categories are used by Charity Retail Ireland in relation to textiles collected through clothing banks. 
There is, therefore, a high degree of uncertainty in these data in terms of where textiles end up.

75 
Annex 17: Post-consumer textile solutions analysis 
In order to build on the insights gained through the pilot implementation and associated data analysis, 
the project team undertook a review of potential solutions that could work with the qualities and 
quantities of textiles that would be generated through a national separate textile collection system. Two 
such potential solutions were selected for further exploration through an Eco-Business Model Canvas. 
The first step in this process was to identify the existing business models and technologies that can be 
deployed in the reuse or recycling of textiles. The project team identified 74 different post-consumer 
textiles initiatives. The models identified were divided into six different categories based on the type of 
operation and how they sought to redirect textiles from waste streams. These categories included,  
● Resale — initiatives that resell second hand textiles online, in physical spaces, as commercial 
entities, or through peer-to-peer selling. 
● Rent/share — initiatives that rent clothing.  
● Repair/upcycled products — initiatives that sell repaired or remanufactured textiles that 
maintain original function and/or maintaining or increasing economic value. 
● Repair services — initiatives that offer repair services for textiles. 
● Fibre to fibre — initiatives that specifically employ technologies for remanufacturing existing 
textiles into new fibres for further production. 
● Downcycling — initiatives that remanufacture textiles for lower value uses, e.g., insulation. 
Name 
Description 
Category: Resale 
H&M preloved (Sweden 
Secondhand clothes shopping in regular H&M 
stores, shoppers earn points for buying 
secondhand. Garments are quality assured, can 
be returned, and ordered online. Trying to 
mainstream secondhand shopping. 
Designer Exchange Dublin 
 
Poshmark 
Decentralised online resale

76 
Refashion 
Centralised online resale 
Kids Klothes 
Centralised online resale - social enterprise 
Adevinta/Schibsted 
Decentralised online resale 
thriftify 
Platform for charities to resell donations online 
Cycle Up 
Resells upcycled clothes from Roscommon 
women's network - they don't do repair - only 
remanufacture. 
Down Syndrome Centre 
Resale of 30,000 pre-loved dresses 
Charity Retail Ireland 
Natex report - 8.5 k tonnes sold through all 
charity shops - not all are included in charity 
retail Ireland. 
Eastern Europe Grade 
Paid for cream from Ireland, so sorting centre 
was more inclined to send to these markets until 
the war in Ukraine. 
African Grade Resale 
Fluctuating currency can impact return to 
supplier. 
Lower Grade Resale (Asia) 
Lower grade of textiles exported to Asian 
markets. 
Rent/Share 
Rag Revolution 
Dress rentals 
Designer Room 
Clothes rentals

77 
Sharedrobes 
Clothes sharing online platform 
The Nu Wardrobe 
Online rentals/clothes, app 
Cloth Nappy Library Ireland 
Online rental for cloth nappies, in person meet-
ups 
Repair/upcycling 
Arnotts Circular Fix 
 
Repair Shop: https://rrepairs.shop/ 
A research and learning studio, investigating 
maintenance, craft and design. A bit of a think 
tank really. 
Heddel Free online DIY repair guides 
The organisation provides people with free online 
guides that show the processes of darning, patch 
work, getting tear gas out of technical textiles, 
and more with a step-by-step format 
FixUp 
Organisation based in New York, USA that began 
as a pop up repair shop, and now virtually 
employs fixers and connects them with people 
who are in need of a repair of some sort. Fixers 
fill out a google form that answers what they fix, 
and customers fill out a similar form for what 
they need. 
Rediscovery Centre 
Rediscover fashion 
Attention Attire 
Outerwear from camping stuff from Ireland's 
music festivals

78 
bebrave 
Neckties to accessories 
Felted Knits and Quirky Bits 
Old textile to new accessories 
Jump the Hedges 
Yoga bags from textiles 
Loved and Upcycled 
Reuse of out-of-service sports gear 
Natasha Fakkeldij Upcycled Design 
Reuse of old textiles to accessories 
Roscommon Women's Network 
Textile upcycle training project 
The Upcycle Movement 
Neoprene, priscia and a range of recycled 
materials incl. bags, watches, slings. 
Athbags 
Upcycles textiles into athletic bags 
Official Rebrand 
Company that upcycles old textiles into new, 
"anti-waste" and "gender-free" clothes 
Zip Yard 
Repairs and alterations for clothing 
United Repair Centre in Amsterdam 
Makers Unite, Patagonia, and Scotch and Soda 
have teamed up to create a space dedicated to 
clothing repair, to extend the lives of textiles and 
decrease the overconsumption. 
Patagonia 
Send clothes back for repairs, has free diy/repair 
tutorials on their website. 
Mobilitruck/Repara Truck 
Mobile repair service for computers, small 
electrical appliances, and bikes

79 
Services 
Eco-Equitable 
Sewing for Jobs program newcomers to Canada, 
provides class members with a donated sewing 
machine at the end of the class, uses donated 
fabrics for projects/for mega fabric sales to gain 
revenue 
Sew Last Season 
Galway sewing group 
The Useless Project 
group that provides tips and tutorials on how to 
upcycle things like clothes 
Repair Cafe 
Toronto area event where people can bring 
clothes to learn how to mend them/ to have 
them mended by someone else - A Repair Cafe 
for textiles 
Fibre to Fibre 
RenewCell 
Used textiles to paper and new textiles 
SingTex 
Used coffee ground to textiles 
3SIXTY 
Single use plastics to a range of textile-based 
products - not fibre to fibre - plastic to fibre. Also 
does recycled cotton - surf towels and ponchos. 
Bolt Threads 
Use mycelium and spider silks to make 
sustainable fabrics 
Amber Cycle -USA 
Fibre to fibre - Polyester and polycotton blends 
separated chemically and respun into PET pellets

80 
and polyester fibres 
Aquafil - Italy 
Nylon 6 chemically processed into polymer and 
spun into yarn for carpets and textiles 
Evrnu-USA 
Any blends treated with solvents to extract 
cellulose, then respun into new fibre 
Hkrita - Hong Kong 
Research institute in Hong Kong focused on 
sustainable and circular textiles. 
Infinited Fiber - Finland 
Cotton chemically recycled in existing 
viscose/pulp factories. textiles shredded, reduces 
to cellulose powder, respun into new fibres 
Ioncell - Finland` 
Cotton and cellulose based fabrics chemically 
processed into cotton-like yarn for textiles - 
currently at research phase and looking for 
collaborators and investors to commercialise 
Ioniqa-Netherlands 
Polyester chemically recycled into PET for food 
safe containers 
Refibra/Tencel - Austria 
Pre- and post-consumer cotton waste processed 
chemically into yarn for textiles 
SaXcell - Netherlands 
Pure cotton chemically recycled into fibres for 
textiles 
SodraCell:OnceMore - Sweden 
Cellulose from forestry, Cotton and polycotton 
blends chemically recycled into pulp for yarn, and 
textiles

81 
Tyton Bioscience: Circ-USA 
Post-consumer blends chemically recycled into 
new fibres 
Worn Again - UK 
Cotton, polyester and polycotton (up to 20% 
contaminants) chemically recycled into PET resin 
and cellulose pulp for textiles 
Altex - Germany 
All types of textiles mechanically recycled into 
fibres for insulation, geotextiles, drainage, and 
the automotive industry 
Antex-Spain 
Post-industrial polyester and synthetic fibres 
mechanically recycled into yarn for clothing and 
automotive industries 
Cardato - Italy 
Wool, cashmere & wool-polyester and wool-
polyamide blends mechanically recycled into 
yarn/fabric for new textiles 
European Spinning Group - Belgium 
Cotton, denim and polyester mechanically 
recycled into denim, towels, tents and workwear 
Reverso-Italy 
100% wool products mechanically recycled into 
100% wool and cashmere yarns 
Wolkat - Netherlands 
All natural and synthetic material textiles 
mechanically recycled into textiles with 65-95% 
recycled fibres 
Re:Mix - Sweden 
Textiles with elastane mechanically recycled into 
elastane yarn (using injection moulding) 
Fibersort

82 
Downcycling 
Cirtex 
Textiles to insulation and a range of other 
products. 
Industrial wipes 
Cutting and baling for use as industrial wipes / 
rag 
Pakistani Grade 
Clothing, rugs, padding, wipes (determined at 
end point) 
Mutilation (10-12%) 
Mechanical shredding of materials 
Chemical separation 
Chemical based separation of components of 
textile 
Edward Clay 
Textiles to mattresses/padding/basket lining 
Rossins 
No info found 
John Cotton      
Textiles into pillows/mattresses/duvets - large 
scale and established manufacturer. Group owns 
multiple companies. 
UsedFULLY 
Takes high cellulose textiles and uses in road 
building New Zealand 
Solutions in these categories were evaluated in relation to nine questions, outlined below, that helped to 
determine their suitability and scalability in terms of advancing a circular textile industry in Ireland. 
1. How scalable are these systems? 
2. Where is the textile sold and to whom? 
3. Can collectors/sorters/processors derive a gate-fee by supplying inputs? 
4. What quality of textiles, in terms of reusability, will be collected with these systems?

83 
5. How sensitive are these systems to contamination? 
6. How viable is this system in an Irish context?  
7. Are there regulatory barriers to implementing this system? 
8. How likely are these systems to have a low carbon footprint? 
9. Where does this solution sit in the waste hierarchy? 
The scoping exercise was built upon further with guidance from a close reading of the European 
Commission Joint Research Centre’s (JRC) report, Circular Economy Perspectives in the EU Textile Sector 
(Kohler et al., 2021).  
The focus of this research was on identifying potential solutions for dealing with additional post-
consumer textiles domestically to support new business opportunities, jobs and local resilience so this 
point was not relevant for the analysis. The data analysis conducted by the project team indicated that a 
large portion of textiles are rewearable through local resale or export, with the largest fraction being 
export for resale to high value markets. 
Through stakeholder engagement, the project team also learned that many textiles that could be reworn 
if minor repairs were carried out are currently exported. This is because charity retailers in Ireland do not 
generally have the capacity to carry out such repairs. As such, most of these textiles are passed onto 
commercial textile recyclers who often export such items. For this reason, the project team identified a 
business model that mainstreams repair and second-hand clothing in a conventional commercial retail 
space as one potential solution.  
Second, the third highest category of textiles by median value identified in the data analysis is 
pulping/downcycling. The JRC report also identifies that increased collection of textiles post-2025 are 
likely to lead to large increases in the volumes of low-quality textiles being collected from European 
households. Low-quality textiles are equated with those that are suitable for pulping and industrial uses 
such as insulation and industrial wipes. As such, the second potential solution that will be explored in the 
Eco-Business Model Canvas focuses on large scale uses of low quality textiles in infrastructure, namely 
the construction of roads.  
Eco-Business Model Canvas 
The eco-business model canvas is an exploratory tool that can be used for a range of purposes. The tool 
essentially provokes an exploration of nine dimensions of a business model, along with two additional 
dimensions focused on ecological and social considerations. The eleven dimensions specified in Figure 
3.24

84 
 
     Figure 3.24: Eco-business model canvas 
Eco-Business Model Canvas: Arnotts Circular Fix 
A first action is focused on incorporating secondhand and repaired textiles into mainstream retail spaces. 
This solution responds to the finding that a large portion of post-consumer textiles collected have resale 
potential either in domestic Irish markets or through export, but require minor repairs. Recent research 
has highlighted the need to expose consumers to sustainable clothing options, and the desire for a 
pleasant shopping experience free from the “clutter typically found in second hand shops” (Sorensen & 
Johnson Jorgensen, 2019, 11). These points resonate with some of those asserted by stakeholders with 
whom the project team engaged. Specifically, that a small category of people frequently shop at charity 
shops, while the vast majority of the population do not due to cultural preferences. Accordingly, there is 
potential to resell and increase consumption of secondhand textiles domestically if they are normalised 
in mainstream retail spaces.  
On this basis the project team asserts the importance of exploring the potential to incorporate 
secondhand textiles into commercial retails spaces, such as H&M, Zara, Penneys, and Arnotts/Brown 
Thomas (Remington, 2022). One example that we identified through the scoping exercise of potential 
solutions for application in an Irish setting is currently in action in Arnotts, a retailer on Henry Street in 
Dublin. The initiative is entitled “Circular Fix”. It provides repair services to consumers on secondhand

85 
items in a mainstream, well-known retail space. The following sections detail our exploration of the 
Arnott’s Circular Fix through the eco-business model canvas.  
Customer segments:  
● The general public, particularly those people who would not otherwise engage with or be 
exposed to secondhand clothing options.  
● The current price list indicates a strong focus on restoring footwear. However, an interview  with 
a representative from Arnotts indicated that the service is available for all products.   
Value proposition: 
● This business model is focused on extending the life of the products to which one is already 
attached. As such, the activity is presented as “restoration” more so than “repair”.  
● This value proposition is framed in terms of the circular economy — extending the life of materials 
— the focus is less on purchasing secondhand clothing and more on repairing and providing 
alterations for that which a consumer already has.  
● A divergent approach is taken by H&M Sweden’s “preloved” initiative22, which takes secondhand 
clothing donations from consumers and resells them. However, these are resold as part of 
collections that are curated in physical retail stores and online. Zara has also developed a pre-
owned fashion platform of its own that will be accessible via its website and app. Importantly, 
both value propositions are framed in language that avoids terms like “used” or “secondhand”. 
Channels for communicating with customers and delivering value: 
● The value proposition is communicated through the initiative’s website23.  
● The initiative is visible in-store.  
Customer relationships: 
● Some interaction and consultation between the repair staff and customer: Items are dropped off 
for repair, are photographed, and sent to external repairers. Customers are then provided with a 
quotation for how much the repair will cost, at which point customers may withdraw from the 
                                                           
22 https://www2.hm.com/sv_se/dam/resell/pre-loved.html  
23 https://www.arnotts.ie/whats-on/store-services/circular-fix/

86 
process without charge. Following the completion of repairs, items are returned to the customer 
with agreed price collected at that point.  
Revenue streams: 
● Revenue generated from the repair service. Arnotts effectively acts as a facilitator for repairs 
because the repairs themselves are carried out by external craftspeople. Arnotts then charges a 
fee for the service, some of which is passed onto the individual carrying out the repair.  
● An important revenue benefit to commercial retailers of providing this service is enhancing brand 
loyalty and alignment with consumer values which are increasingly supporting the green agenda. 
● The pricing itself is “project based” (e.g., the costs depend on the requirements of the specific 
item in terms of materials and repair).  
● It is not evident that there are any tax incentives for the business for this kind of service nor a 
reduced VAT for the customer at present.  
Key resources: 
● The skills and knowledge of the craftspeople who carry out the repairs.  
● Craftspeople rely on the availability of repair tools and replacement materials where necessary. 
● Draws on the customer services skills of the in-store staff who liaise with the customers.  
● Draws on the physical space of the store as a drop-off and information points.  
● Draws on web resources through the Circular Fix webpage.  
Key activities: 
● The service primarily involves liaising with customers and craftspeople who carry out the repairs.  
● Arnotts acts as a conveyor of items for repair between the parties.  
Key Partnerships: 
● The key partnership in this instance is between Arnotts and a variety of sole trading craftspeople 
who are skilled and knowledgeable in textiles repair.  
● In an extended network, the relationships between the craftspeople and the suppliers of 
replacement materials and repair tools are also important to this service.  
Cost structure: 
● Fixed costs include staffing of the repair station, VAT charged on services rendered, shop 
maintenance and website expenses.

87 
● Variable costs include the cost of materials and tools and associated with this is the cost of 
contracting and transporting goods to the repair craftspeople.  
Eco-social benefits: 
● Encourages people to keep textiles in circulation for longer by providing a repair service for 
existing goods.  
● Potentially reduces consumption by preventing the purchase of new goods.  
● Introduces repair activities to a mainstream retail space, which may help to normalise repair in 
public consciousness.  
Eco-social costs: 
● A possible negative lies in the relationships between Arnotts and the contracted repairers. Is a 
fair price delivered for the service provided?  
● The listed prices for the repair services themselves range from €10 for shoe stretching24 to €150 
for replacing the soles on runners25. These prices may reflect the labour and skill involved. 
However, the higher end prices for restoration indicate that they are only economically 
worthwhile if a consumer is in possession of expensive products to begin with.  
Potential for scalability: 
Potential barriers to scaling include,  
● Organisational resistance to providing repair services.  
● Repair may be seen as a threat as it undermines the consumption model that otherwise drives 
return business 
● The cost of repair in comparison with buying low cost new textiles may lead to low consumer 
engagement. This barrier, unless addressed, could restrict the scaling of such services to high 
end textiles. This barrier was also highlighted by NATEX (O'Leary et al., 2021).  
Eco-Business Model Canvas: UsedFULLY Strength-Tex 
A second business model was researched based on a different need identified through the research 
project in conjunction with existing research literature. Research carried out by the Joint Research Council 
                                                           
24 https://bta.a.bigcontent.io/v1/static/Shoe-Fix-Menu_  
25 https://bta.a.bigcontent.io/v1/static/Arnotts-Trainer-Fix-Menu

88 
of the European Commission identified that with mandatory separate collection, it is probable increased 
quantities of low quality textiles will be generated (Kohler et al., 2021). Moreover, the research project 
indicates that between 7% and 51% of all textiles collected through our various collection methods is 
suitable for downcycling, pulping and industrial uses. Accordingly, there is a rationale to provide a 
secondary pathway for post-consumer textiles. Specifically, if textiles cannot be resold for rewearing in 
domestic or export markets, then large scale industrial solutions provide an alternative to recovery via 
waste-to-energy.  
In this category two potentially viable solutions were identified from the scoping exercise of potential 
solutions. Cirtex26 is one organisation, which has already trialled technology, supported by CIRCULÉIRE, 
that may in the future be suitable for shredding and converting post-consumer textiles into insulation. 
This is presented in the case study below.  
Another potential solution is the UsedFULLY27 project Strength-Tex, which is trialling the use of high 
cellulose textiles in construction roads in New Zealand. While this is not a high value activity on a per item 
basis, it does provide a long term use for such textiles at an industrial scale and replaces imported 
materials, saves carbon emissions, and water usage. The UsedFULLY project was explored for the 
purposes of this research to add a further novel option to the development landscape in Ireland, to 
complement the opportunity presented by Cirtex as described in the case study. The following sections 
detail the research team’s exploration of UsedFULLY’s Strength-Tex project through the eco-business 
model canvas.   
Customer segments: 
● This business model provides a product that is consumed publicly by road users.  
● However, the direct customers for the product will be construction contractors, who will be 
contracted through public tendering processes. Public procurement policy would ideally require 
the inclusion of circular materials in building public infrastructure.  
Value Propositions: 
● Offers to displace imported materials and instead use what would otherwise end up as waste to 
(re)construct a piece of public road infrastructure throughout New Zealand, thereby saving 
                                                           
26 https://cirtex.ie/  
27 https://www.textilereuse.com/

89 
water, carbon emissions, and construction costs. It also supports organisations to take action on 
climate change by diverting their unwanted textiles from waste into onshore solutions.  
● Direct engagement with UsedFULLY representatives elicited assertions that global uncertainty 
around the supply and price of oil, bitumen, mineral waxes, and related substances, and other 
natural resources is driving industrial players to consider waste as a viable alternative for asphalt 
roads and pavements.  
● UsedFULLY representatives asserted further that the reliability of imported bitumen and 
fluctuating prices of oil could bring uncertainty to Ireland’s sourcing of materials for road 
construction.  
● It could be worth exploring the potential to source bitumen alternatives domestically in Ireland 
on sustainability and resource security grounds.  
● In terms of the performance of the material, UsedFULLY representatives asserted that lab testing 
results were promising and provided project partners and funders with the confidence to 
progress to a demonstration project whereby Strength-Tex was used in the construction of an 
inner-city road in Wellington New Zealand. Reports and analysis should be sought in order to 
better understand the performance of the materials and how they might translate to an Irish 
context.  
Channels for communicating with customers and delivering value: 
● The UsedFULLY team has engaged extensively with local governments. These bodies are crucial 
as the procurers of roading contracts and are responsible for the management of municipal waste 
and community recycling centres.  
● Upon full roll out, the business would communicate with customers through an online presence, 
through tendering for public contracts, through sales pitches to construction companies, and 
through presence at industry events such as conferences and trade fairs.  
Customer relationships: 
● This business model would involve in-depth engagement with construction customers to tailor 
large scale orders of materials to specific needs of a project.  
Revenue streams: 
● May initially rely on investors to get up and running beyond a pilot phase. However, in the long 
run, revenue would be secured through ongoing contracts associated with construction of road 
infrastructure.

90 
● There may be additional revenue streams secured for providing a textile processing service. For 
example, municipalities or government agencies may pay UsedFULLY for the service of taking 
away and reprocessing unwanted textiles in ways that avoid landfill and/or incineration.  
Key resources: 
● A secure supply of a stream of poly-cotton based textiles that are rich in cellulose. In order to 
establish a pilot, UsedFULLY partnered with local suppliers on unwanted textiles and clothing who 
provide warehousing. In addition, this is a highly specialised product and process. 
● Knowledgeable and trained personnel are important, as is a storage facility for textiles awaiting 
processing.  
● A textile sorting and processing facility, the construction of which is likely capital intensive 
thereby requiring significant investment.  
● Machinery for moving and transporting materials, whether this is supplied by a contractor or 
through vehicles owned by the business itself. Third parties were contracted during the pilot 
phase to process the Strength-Tex material. 
Key activities: 
● Collecting materials  
● Shredding, processing, and preparing materials for reuse.  
● Delivering materials to the locations in which they are to be used. 
Key Partnerships: 
● State bodies that have a throughput of uniforms, e.g. law enforcement, health services. The 
benefit of this approach is that the business receives large quantities of textiles that are the same 
in material composition, thus lowering the expense and labour involved in analysing and sorting 
the textiles for reuse.  
● Construction contractors who may seek to incorporate Strength-Tex into road building projects. 
As part of this, public bodies that fund road building are also a key partner.  
Cost structure: 
● Fixed costs for this business model includes staff, taxes, facilities and building upkeep.  
● Variable costs include energy, the price of material inputs, price of transporting materials to and 
from sources and projects.

91 
● There is an economy of scale involved in this business model (e.g.,  once the processing facility is 
up and running it makes sense to process more material rather than less).  
Eco-social benefits 
● This business model could divert textiles from undesirable and unsustainable end-of-life 
solutions. 
● It replaces an expensive and resource intensive imported material with one that is diverted from 
a domestic waste stream.  
● The business model offers an opportunity and a case study for communicating novel and creative 
solutions to waste streams. 
Eco-social costs 
While there are many potential benefits to this business model, it is also important to identify some of 
the potential risks and costs.  
● The processing of materials may be resource intensive and could be dangerous working 
environments. As such, safeguards would need to be put in place to ensure that human health is 
protected and that environmental impact is kept to a minimum.  
● In providing a pathway processing textiles from public institutions there is potential for this 
business model to discourage reuse and/or repair within those institutions. For example, by 
providing a pathway for dealing with used police uniforms, models like this one could discourage 
repair and reuse of used police uniforms. 
● UsedFULLY representatives explained how they mitigate this risk. First, in the context of New 
Zealand Police, Armed Services, Customs and other government agencies are destroyed then 
landfilled or incinerated to prevent security risks. Strength-Tex provides an alternative pathway 
for the material and addresses security risks by shredding the uniforms before processing into 
second generation products. As such, UsedFULLY positions itself at the end of the value chain 
after charities, reuse, and repair sectors.  
Scalability in Ireland? 
In Ireland several current policy developments are of relevance to the scalability of a project like Strength-
Tex in an Irish context. As part of the Whole of Government Circular Economy Strategy and the Circular 
Economy Act, Ireland is seeking to improve reuse and recycling rates on a number of fronts and halve 
carbon emissions by half by 2030. More efficient use of our existing resources, such as using end-of-life 
textiles in road construction aligns with each of these goals. Moreover, the National Development Plan,

92 
with an overall budget of €165 billion until 203028 provides for a gradual increase in funding for regional 
and local roads. In 2022, the budget for roads and greenways was €676 million29. As such, there is 
significant scope from a infrastructural budget point of view to scale this kind of approach in an Irish 
context.  
The other scalability aspect of this business model relates to the availability and procurement of textile 
inputs. The approach employed by UsedFULLY in New Zealand has been to partner with large national 
laundries and uniform suppliers who warehouse decommissioned textiles resources until they are ready 
for processing. Third parties were also contracted to deliver Strength-Tex to the building contractors who 
added the material to the road construction mixture. Once sufficient capital has been generated it is 
anticipated that UsedFULLY will be able to develop in-house processing facilities. UsedFULLY reports back 
to the laundry partners and uniform suppliers, who are able to report on waste diversion and emissions 
reporting in their own Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) reporting.  
In an Irish context, a feasibility study should be undertaken to examine the availability of textile inputs, 
processing partners, and costs of setting up processing facilities.  
 
 
                                                           
28 
https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/7ac57-government-launches-the-renewed-national-development-plan-
2021-2030/  
29 https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/9b8cf-over-two-thirds-of-a-billion-euro-allocated-to-irelands-national-roads-and-greenways-for-2022/

93 
Annex 18: Showcase of innovative solutions for post-consumer clothing and home textiles 
As part of the project, a showcase of innovative solutions for post-consumer clothing and home 
textiles was developed and was on public display at the Rediscovery Centre during the month of 
October 2022. Sector stakeholders were provided tours of the showcase at both the 19 October 
2022 final project stakeholder workshop as well as another CRNI event held on 28 September 
2022. A photo of the overall showcase can be seen in Figure 3.25. 
 
     Figure 3.25: Developing a Circular Textiles System for Ireland: a showcase of innovative 
solutions for post-consumer clothing and home textiles 
The showcase illustrated the different value categories of post-consumer clothing and home 
textiles in Ireland through pull-up banners and sample textiles to demonstrate what each means 
in physical form. Value categories were named and defined as follows: 
● Suitable to Rewear, Highest Value: The wearable fraction of post-consumer clothing and 
home textiles that is in very good or good condition and appeals to Irish consumers. 
● Suitable to Rewear, Medium Value: The wearable fraction of post-consumer clothing and 
home textiles that is in moderate condition or lightly damaged and does not appeal to 
Irish consumers. 
● Suitable to Rewear, Low Value: The wearable fraction of post-consumer clothing and 
home textiles that is in poor condition, very worn or damaged but not soiled.

94 
● Suitable for Recycling: The fraction of post-consumer clothing and home textiles that is 
not wearable due to damage but is not soiled. 
● Suitable for disposal: The fraction of post-consumer clothing and home textiles that is 
soiled or mixed with other waste streams. 
The innovation path for each value category was then illustrated by answering the following 
questions:  
● How much is collected in Ireland? 
● Current models? 
● Examples? 
● Innovations to explore? 
● Investments required to scale? 
● Benefits? 
Close-up images of each pull-up banner can be seen in Figure 3.26 and a detailed matrix of the 
content is contained further below.

95 
 
 
 
 
 
 
     Figure 3.26: Close-up images of innovation showcase pull-up banners

96 
Content matrix for Developing a Circular Textiles for Ireland: a showcase of innovative solutions for post-consumer clothing and home textiles 
Value category 
Definition 
How much is 
collected in 
Ireland? 
Current 
models? 
Examples? 
Innovations to 
explore? 
Investments 
required to 
scale? 
Benefits? 
Suitable to 
Rewear 
Highest Value 
The wearable 
fraction of post-
consumer 
clothing and 
home textiles that 
is in very good or 
good condition 
and appeals to 
Irish consumers 
Estimate 9,700 
tonnes each year 
Sold, rented or 
shared within 
Ireland directly 
without repair or 
alteration (e.g., 
brick and mortar 
secondhand 
retailers, online 
platforms for 
secondhand 
retailers, online 
platforms for 
peer-to-peer 
selling and 
swapping) 
Charity retailers, 
thriftify, Nu 
Wardrobe, 
Adverts, depop 
Mainstream the 
sale of 
secondhand 
clothing and 
home textiles in 
Ireland through 
increased 
capacity of 
existing retailers / 
swap shops and 
incentives for 
public-private-
charity 
partnerships 
Incentives to 
expand business 
models; storage 
facilities; sorting 
and distribution 
centres; capital 
equipment and 
transportation; 
technology 
infrastructure; 
human 
resources; 
reduce VAT on 
secondhand 
purchases 
Direct local reuse 
leads to greatest 
reduction of 
textile 
consumption and 
maximises 
transport 
emissions 
savings; 
increases 
business 
opportunities; 
develops skills; 
creates jobs 
Suitable to 
Rewear 
Medium Value 
The wearable 
fraction of post-
consumer 
clothing and 
home textiles that 
is in moderate 
condition or 
lightly damaged 
and does not 
Estimate 22,400 
tonnes each year 
Sold to export 
markets for direct 
rewear 
Limited amount 
of upcycling in 
Ireland 
Export by 
commercial 
textile recyclers 
e.g., Cookstown 
Textile Recyclers; 
All-Tex 
Recyclers; 
Liberty Recycling 
Establish service 
centres to 
undertake 
repairs, 
alterations and 
upcycling; 
mainstream the 
sale of repaired 
or upcycled 
Workspace and 
capital equipment 
for service 
centres; 
transportation 
and technology; 
business 
development 
capacity to 
Extends 
wearable life of 
existing textiles 
while minimizing 
carbon 
emissions; 
reduces new 
textile 
consumption;

97 
appeal to Irish 
consumers 
Upcyclers: (e.g., 
The Upcycle 
Movement/Re 
Source platform, 
Attention Attire, 
the Rediscovery 
Centre, 
Roscommon 
Women's 
Network/ 
CycleUp Textiles 
clothing and 
home textiles in 
Ireland; expand 
collaborations 
and textile 
sharing among 
upcyclers; 
expand upcycling 
training; improve 
sorting capacity 
to redirect some 
to highest value 
category 
secure stock and 
grow distribution 
channels; reduce 
VAT on repair 
and alteration 
services 
reduces reliance 
on export 
markets by 
keeping textiles 
in Ireland; 
reduces transport 
emissions; builds 
resilience to 
supply chain 
shocks; 
increases 
business 
opportunities; 
develops skills; 
creates jobs; 
adds economic 
value to textile 
stream 
Suitable to 
Rewear 
Low Value 
The wearable 
fraction of post-
consumer 
clothing and 
home textiles that 
is in poor 
condition, very 
worn or damaged 
but not soiled 
Estimate 12,600 
tonnes each year 
Sold to limited 
export markets 
for rewear or 
shredded to 
make other 
products (e.g., 
rugs, wipes) 
Exported by 
commercial 
textile recyclers 
(e.g., Cookstown 
Textile Recyclers; 
All-Tex 
Recyclers; 
Liberty 
Recycling) 
      
Develop 
opportunities for 
textile processing 
in Ireland; 
explore 
applications and 
business 
opportunities for 
shredded textiles; 
improve sorting 
capacity to 
redirect some of 
these textiles to 
medium value 
Storage, sorting 
and mechanical 
shredding 
facilities, 
business 
development 
capacity to grow 
end markets 
Reduces reliance 
on export 
markets by 
keeping textiles 
in Ireland; 
reduces transport 
emissions; builds 
resilience to 
supply chain 
shocks; adds 
economic value 
to low value 
textile stream

98 
category 
Suitable for 
Recycling 
The fraction of 
post-consumer 
clothing and 
home textiles that 
is not wearable 
due to damage 
but is not soiled 
Estimate 15,000 
tonnes each year 
Mechanically or 
chemically 
processed to 
make products of 
lower value than 
the original 
material 
(downcycling) 
Cut and bale for 
use as cleaning 
wipes; shred for 
use in carpets, 
mattresses, sofas 
and sound 
proofing (e.g., 
Acara Concepts) 
Expand textile 
shredding in 
Ireland; expand 
local 
manufacturing 
and business 
opportunities for 
shredded textiles, 
such as 
insulation (e.g., 
Cirtex), high 
cellulose textiles 
in road building, 
padding (e.g., 
mattresses, 
upholstery, 
packaging), 
sound proofing, 
rugs and carpets; 
fibre-to-fibre 
recycling (most 
likely via export 
to EU hubs); 
improve sorting 
capacity to 
redirect some to 
low value 
category 
Storage, sorting 
and mechanical 
shredding 
facilities, 
business 
development 
capacity to grow 
end markets 
Creates local 
manufacturing 
opportunities; 
increases 
business 
opportunities; 
develops skills; 
creates jobs; 
adds economic 
value to textile 
stream 
Suitable for 
The fraction of 
Estimate 11,0000 
Disposed for 
Dublin Waste to 
Remove textiles 
Separate 
Reduces quantity

99 
Disposal 
post-consumer 
clothing and 
home textiles that 
is soiled or mixed 
with other waste 
streams 
tonnes each year 
incineration or to 
landfill 
Energy (DWTE); 
Meath Waste to 
Energy 
from residual 
waste bin by 
improving 
separate 
collection 
infrastructure; 
align incentives 
for entire supply 
chain to separate 
and sort textiles 
collection 
infrastructure 
including 
logistics, storage 
and sorting 
capacity; 
incentives to 
cover labour cost 
of collection, 
storage and 
sorting 
of residual waste; 
creates value 
from residual 
waste stream

100

101 
Annex 19: Stakeholder feedback from final workshop 
A final stakeholder workshop took place on 19 October 2022 to present and receive feedback on the 
project’s preliminary findings. The workshop took place both in-person at the Rediscovery Centre and 
online via Zoom in order to make the workshop accessible to all stakeholders. Representatives from the 
following organisations were in attendance: EPA, CRNI, Rediscovery Centre, Charity Retail Ireland, DECC, 
Eastern Midlands Region Waste Management Plan Office, Southern Region Waste Management Plan 
Office, Cork County Council, Donegal County Council, Wicklow County Council, Clare Haven Horizons, 
Dublin Simon Community, Oxfam, Textile Recycling Limited (TRL), Cirtex, Meraki Marketing and CLÁN, 
Retail Excellence and THINK PLAN DO CONSULTING, and REvolve Waste. 
The findings that were presented included an overview of the activities outlined in the report thus far. 
Emphasis was placed on the difficulties encountered during the pilot design and implementation process 
and how these affected the data collected. The national modelling based on the pilot data was, 
nonetheless, presented, along with the potential solutions explored through the Eco Business Model 
Canvas. 
Feedback from the end-of-project stakeholder workshop and the project team’s observations of engaging 
with stakeholders throughout the project revealed that the post-consumer textile sector is heavily 
fragmented. In particular, there is very little coordination between the charity retailers, Local Authorities, 
and commercial textile recyclers. The implementation of industrial scale reuse of textiles will require 
coordination and collaboration between different stakeholders. For example, in a remanufacturing 
process, coordination and collaboration is required to ensure that there is 1) a reliable supply of used 
textiles as an input, 2) demand for used textiles inputs, and 3) a market for the remanufactured product. 
 
As such, more work is needed to map current stakeholders and the extent of operations so that areas of 
potential collaboration can be developed. This could involve establishing a sectoral committee with 
representation from all sectoral interests tasked with identifying and developing new solutions that either 
1) reduce textile consumption in the first instance, 2) keep existing textiles in circulation in their current 
form, or 3) remanufacture textiles for new uses at end of life. It is important to note that incentives and/or 
financial support may be required for some stakeholders to be involved, particularly if this activity is not 
aligned with their current business model.  
Insights relevant to the project were incorporated into the final report and further details from the 
workshop are outlined in the table below.

102 
General 
● Difficult to generalise based on data 
● Value of exports = part of solution 
● Conscious of global nature > framework/ coordinated system & collaboration (who does what) 
with recyclers > competition, profitable business model, LAs also make money from textiles 
● Central sorting capacity / multiple centres 
● Doing another pilot study won’t help; not sure about getting data there either 
● EPR as one way to improve data 
● There is a disconnect between upcyclers, recyclers, charity retail; piecemeal 
● Acknowledge displacement/repair 
● Creating markets here 
● Focus on medium and low value/ shred, not recycling fibre to fibre 
● No infrastructure for facilitating tech / mechanical shredding nor facilitating mainstreaming 
demand of secondhand (e.g., tax breaks & incentives) 
● Need for central sorting capacity, storage - these facilities are lacking 
● Need national reporting structure; reporting on goodwill assumptions, willingness to share; 
commercial also reporting incentivised by money to under reflect 
● Lack of cohesion, fragmented; incentives of different actors working in textiles not aligned…etc. 
● Not enough data, doesn’t align with expectations 
● Potential for reporting of data - there are business model barriers to that. It suits the commercial 
operators not to report accurately because the LAs charge them by weight for the usable textiles 
that they collect 
● Potential to collaborate more broadly in the sector to create needed infrastructure and material 
flows - again there are business model barriers to this - it suits the commercial players to have the 
existing sources of textiles for export 
● Collaboration & infrastructure 
● Current financial models work against domestic circularity or collaboration 
● Shocked by contamination - should we expect contamination? 
Data 
Expected <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<I>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Unexpected 
● Data on textiles is poor 
● We’re not alone 
● Data gaps opens door to 
further research 
● Repetition of this study is 
necessary 
● EPR 
● Environmental taxes: what 
can be done to get the data 
flowing? 
● Is there an appetite for 
more taxes at the moment? 
● Reduction of VAT! 
● Reduction of VAT for 
repaired items 
● Scaling up? We need more 
data! 
● Improved reporting and 
data is around the corner 
● An online platform? 
● New reuse criteria from the 
Commission 
● Small datasets 
● No data on waste 
prevention, things that 
don’t enter the waste 
stream at all 
● We don’t measure our 
success 
● Ukraine war! 
● The only real carrot (for 
private sector) is economic 
● EPR + tax rebates 
● Waste data 
● How good is it… how is it 
collected? 
● … Don’t care … marketing. 
The incentive MUST be 
financial 
● Commission wants it to 
happen every 4 years 
● Waste characterisation 
studies!

103 
● Reduced VAT on CE items 
● ReMark 
● Accreditation of people 
accepting post-consumer 
textiles 
● Definitions: when is waste 
“waste” 
 
● EPR 
● Finland: chemical recycling 
● Finnish EPA? Or SITRA? 
● LSJH? Waste management 
company in Turkey 
● Infrared recycling 
Infrastructure 
Expected <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<I>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Unexpected 
● Commission: Textiles and 
food waste 
● Scale: Everyone might have 
access to such a collection 
point 
● Scale! 
● Role for charity shops in 
high-quality materials 
● EPR comes in mandatory 
and voluntary 
● Health & safety: tied to 
Covid? 
● Human resources: is it best 
done at a consumer level or 
professional level… ! 
● Strong movement for 
professional sorting 
● Communication at the 
individual person level 
needed so that they know 
what to do 
● Big data gaps 
● What is the citizen 
engagement needed, 
charity shops feeling 
undercut 
● Communication! People 
reluctant to put torn 
clothing, CONFUSION! 
● There should be room for 
everyone here 
● Quantity problem 
● Concern about one 
collection taking away 
volumes from other sources 
● Chicken and egg! We need 
infrastructure to cope with 
the increased volume of 
waste 
● Overarching behaviour 
change needed 
● Will citizens lose trust in 
textile collection? 
● Comparison with Estonia… 
in 2025 they need offering 
on separate collection 
● Big difference between 
reusable and resaleable 
● Were populations 
comparable? 
Opportunities 
Expected <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<I>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Unexpected 
● Fear of trying something 
new 
● In Ireland: Claim that it’s all 
about RISK 
● Resource and skill intensive 
● Must be coupled with 
upskilling initiative  
● Large retail backing! 
● Both interesting! 
● Less pessimistic on road 
base 
● Other materials 
● How ready is the Irish 
market for this? 
● Multiple solutions!! 
● Dependent on the market 
and the people 
● Demographics are 
important! 
● Material passports! 
● 10 years! 
● Interpretation of end of 
waste

104 
● Retail sector involvement 
● Repair: insurance issues! 
● Repair for sale onto 
someone else! 
● But material passports are 
important for short term 
and long term 
● Adoption curve… 
● Legislative sandboxes 
● Short term of passports: for 
SMEs and charities