Strongsville to Offer Curbside Recycling of Old Clothes

Strongsville has teamed with Simple Recycling in an effort to keep old clothes and other textiles out of landfills and instead get them recycled.
Starting in mid-April, residents will be able to have unusable household items and unwearable clothing recycled by placing them in special orange bags at the curb on their regular trash day.
The program is not intended to impact charities by diverting clothing and items that residents typically donate, said Jennifer Milbrandt, the city's coordinator of natural resources.
Instead, it's for items you'd normally throw in the trash.
"This is an alternative to throwing away your stained, holey clothing, your old drapes that no one would want, and that single sock whose match was eaten by the washer," Milbrandt said. "We want to keep textiles out of the landfills. These textiles can be used for rags, stuffing in chairs and other things."
According to Simple Recycling, more than 21 billion pounds of clothing are dumped into U.S. landfills each year.
Residents will soon receive information, including two bags, in the mail from Simple Recycling. Residents can set them out on their regular trash day, and they'll be picked up by Simple Recycling drivers -- not by Republic Waste employees.
The drivers will leave new bags to replace the ones residents have used.
The program is free to residents and to the city.
Simple Recycling will sort and grade the items locally. If anything is still usable, it will be sold to local thrift outlets or exported to international markets. Unusable items will be processed for raw materials.
In addition to textiles like clothing, coats, pillows, curtains, blankets, hats, backpacks and sleeping bags, Simple Recycling also picks up shoes, jewelry, silverware and glasses, and household items like small furniture, small appliances like toasters and microwaves, irons, radios, lamps, hair dryers, tools, and pots and pans.
To request more bags or for more information, visit Simplerecycling.com, call (866) 835-5068 or e-mail info@simplerecycling.com.
Other area cities, including Berea, Olmsted Falls, Olmsted Township, North Olmsted and Parma Heights, have already partnered with Simple Recycling.