Approved by curator
Added: Aug 13, 2021
Last edited: Aug 22, 2021
Retold is a mail-in service for recycling unwanted clothes and household textiles. In collaboration with experienced recycling partners, the company ensures that donated textile items never go to landfill. Their program offers a number of purchasable, compostable and biodegradable bag options in which individuals send their unwanted textiles to Retold to be sorted and dispersed to either thrift stores, charities, up-cyclers, or recycling companies.
According to Retold, 85% of all textiles thrown away in the US (roughly 13 million tons) are either sent to landfill or incineration. Additionally, they've reported that the average American throws away over 80 Ibs of clothing every year. Meanwhile, donated textiles often end up going to landfill, anyway. As textiles can take anywhere from 20 to 200 years to decompose depending on their composition and make, hazardous substances are introduced to our environment over the longterm and accumulate in our soil, water bodies, and air. In order to recycle existing textiles back into the product cycle, means of clothing collection need to offer ease and convenience for large-scale compliance.
Retold's collection program is a convenient means by which individuals can give their unwanted textile products extended or new lives. From worn out bras and wedding dresses to household textiles, users can send their goods to Retold using one of their Retold bags, available to purchase singularly, in bulk, or regularly through recurring subscriptions. Once received, users simply seal their textile goods in the bag and drop the parcel off at any post office/box, mailroom, etc. Pre-paid postage affords the benefit of not having to wait in line at the Post Office. For each bag of items returned to Retold, subscribers can choose from a variety of rewards in collaboration with "feel-good brand partners" — approximately a $15 return.
With their partners, Retold then sifts and sorts the collected goods based on type and quality, after which they are dispersed to one or more of the following:
1) Thrift stores: where used goods are resold.
2) Donation centers: which receive only those goods that are needed and can be
distributed or sold.
3) Recycling companies: that break down textiles to produce
new sellable fashion
4) Up-cyclers: Scrap-utilizing companies and manufacturers
that produce insulation, rags, car seat inners, etc.
Each partner is contractually bound to ensure that nothing from Retold goes to landfill. In collaboration with Noissue, Retold uses biodegradable and compostable packaging made from cornstarch. They also carbon-offset their bag freight to customers.
To date, Retold reports having diverted 1,784 pounds of textiles from landfill.
Stretch the lifetime
Use waste as a resource
Maximise lifetime of products after use
Valorise waste streams - closed loop
Valorise waste streams - open loop
circular textiles
recycling
upcycling
Reuse
textile waste
textile waste management
Clothing collection
textile recycling
downcycling