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Hi Red Phone, it seems the ‘USAgain’ clothing bins are sprouting
like mushrooms in our city. First I noticed only one, now they’re
everywhere, sometimes more than one per street (e.g. Second and
Monterey streets). Who puts these bins on the street?
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“Hi Red Phone, it seems the ‘USAgain’ clothing bins are sprouting like mushrooms in our city. First I noticed only one, now they’re everywhere, sometimes more than one per street (e.g. Second and Monterey streets). Who puts these bins on the street? Can you find out more about this company and what they do with our donations? Thank you.”
Red Phone: Dear What’s Up, Red Phone did a bit of Internet research and contacted Garrett Toy, director of business assistance and housing services. First, USAgain is a for-profit company that collects unwanted textiles and resells them in the U.S. and abroad, effectively diverting millions of pounds of clothing from landfills, generating new revenue streams for U.S. businesses and non-profits, and fueling local economies in emerging countries, according to the company’s website.
Here’s how it works. USAgain stations collection bins at locations around major U.S. cities. (Red Phone didn’t know Morgan Hill, with a population of about 38,000, is a major U.S. city). Instead of throwing away unwanted clothes, consumers drop them off in their convenient bins, knowing they will be diverted from landfills to be reworn, reused or recycled.
“We collect around one million pounds of clothing per week, which is then purchased by wholesale buyers, thrift store chains and textile recyclers,” according to the website.
USAgain was founded in 1999, and operates more than 8,000 collection bins in 14 states. In 2009 alone, they collected more than 54 million pounds of discarded clothing. A profitable venture headquartered in Chicago, they employ 160 full-time employees and contractors.
Toy said there are several bins in town.
“We have contacted the business to let them know they must receive planning approvals before locating a bin on any property,” he said.
Good caller, it appears the company set the bins up without permission, and is in the process of obtaining the valid permits required to do business in the city, but Toy did not return an e-mail to confirm.
Hope that answers your questions.
