Textile recycling restarts in Colchester

Textile kerbside recycling collections in Colchester will be restarting from 26 April 2021, thanks to a partnership between Colchester Borough Council and Essex Textiles.

A roll of blue bags and a ‘Guide to Textile Recycling’ leaflet will be delivered to all households with a kerbside collection before 7 May, alongside the council’s annual delivery of a roll of clear recycling bags.

Residents are asked to present their blue textile recycling bag next to their black bin/bags, glass and can boxes and food waste on a Blue Week. Please put these out by 7am on your normal scheduled recycling collection day. There is no limit to the number of bags that you can put out, however Essex Textiles ask that you contact them to arrange a special collection if you have a large number of bags.

Once collected from the kerb, Essex Textiles, who are a registered and licensed textiles broker, will sort the materials. Depending on the quality, the items will either be resold, reused or recycled into other products.

The textile recycling will be collected by Essex Textiles, so will not be collected at the same time as other recycling containers as these are collected by the council’s recycling crews.

To report a missed textile collection or to order more textile bags contact Essex Textiles on 0800 787 9071 or email info@essextextiles.co.uk

Residents on an assisted collection, who live in a flat with a communal bin area or have large number of bags can contact Essex Textiles to arrange a special collection.

Items accepted by Essex Textiles for textile recycling:

 

• Clothes
• Shoes
• Handbags
• Belts
• Bedding
• Towels

Items not accepted by Essex Textiles for textile recycling:

 

• Carpets
• Duvets
• Pillows
• Quilts
• Rugs
• Soiled, wet and unusable items
• Rags

For items not collected by Essex Textiles, residents can book a hassle free Special Collection from the council or take items to their nearest Essex County Council Recycling Centre. Small, soiled items or rags can be put in with non-recyclable black bag/bin rubbish.

For further information on this new service please visit Essex Textiles website.

It’s easy to keep up to date with recycling news year-round by registering for the Greener Living e-newsletter, following the Council on social media at @YourColchester on Twitter and EnjoyColchester on Facebook or visiting colchester.gov.uk/recycling.