In New York State

1. A Coordinated Best Practice Approach To: In New York State 1st to Coordinate a Statewide Effort

2. A powerful partnership NYSAR NYSAR MISSION To provide statewide leadership on waste reduction, reuse and recycling issues and practices to improve the environment. VISION To be an advisory organization for legislative and regulatory matters in reduction, reuse and recycling. To promote the recycling and reuse industry to an economically sustainable level. To be the essential information resource for reduction, reuse and recycling. To promote management practices that integrate reduction, reuse and recycling. To be the education and training resource for all aspects of reduction, reuse and recycling.

3. A powerful partnership SMART Vision To divert textiles from the solid waste stream Association Overview Since 1932, SMART has been at the forefront of recycling. SMART members use and convert recycled and secondary materials from used clothing, commercial laundries and nonwoven, off spec material, new mill ends and paper from around the world. SMART member companies create thousands of jobs worldwide. Our members prove each day that you can make money by being socially responsible.

4. A powerful partnership Council for Textile Recycling Municipalities can join the CTR for free. http://www.weardonaterecycle.org/action/join-CTR.html The Council for Textile Recycling (CTR) is the United States leading 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to raising public awareness about the importance of textile recycling and the need to reduce the amount of used clothing and other post-consumer textile waste (PCTW ) being sent to our nation's landfills. The Council's Board of Directors reflects a broad base of stakeholders with representatives from charities, private sector recyclers, brands and retailers. Other stakeholders include consumers, academics, and government and nonprofit recycling groups, and more.

5. Post Consumer Textile Recycling (pctw) For Every Municipality Innovative (1st State) Coordinated NYSAR, SMART & CTR have produced this innovative, statewide multi path template to recycling pctw for municipalities. This coordinated effort allows municipalities to select the level of engagement that best aligns with their overall recycling goals and objectives. In addition we have also included a corresponding Public Relations Tool Kit and a other resources to help your municipality begin diverting post consumer textile waste. Statewide

6. 5% of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)is PCTW An Issue For Every Municipality http://www.weardonaterecycle.org/about/issue.html

7. Diverting PCTW benefits all stakeholders. For Every Municipality Residents, municipalities, charities, private sector recyclers, brands and retailers all benefit from recycling pctw. Residents – Recycle & live in clean communities. Lower waste costs. Municipalities – Divert up to 5% of MSW, Decrease waste costs, avoid tipping fees, increase revenue. Charities – Increased donations, benefit from comprehensive messaging. Private sector recyclers - Collect & Recycle PCTW. Brands & Retailers- Helps keep the products they manufacturer and sell out of landfill.

8. How many tons of PCTW did your municipality generate this year? PCTW Calculator • EPA estimates 5% of MSW is pctw: • Multiply MSW x 5%= Estimated pctw in landfill. • Example: 200,000 tons MSW x 5% = 10,000 tons of pctw based on EPA figures. • 700,000 TONS pctw [2010 : NYS MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE , NYSAR3 SUPPLIED FIGURE: MSW 14 MILLION tons disposed x 5%] • Estimated COST OF $35 MILLION IN TIPPING FEES • Over 9,600 jobs created if all textiles recovered. • 2010 NYS figures

9. What is post consumer textile waste? What can be reused & recycled? • PCTW: Post Consumer Textile Waste is typically donated or recycled at end of life. Can include apparel, footwear , accessories and household textiles • No relation to Pre Consumer / Post Industrial Waste (which fibers converters recycle) or Excess Inventories from retail stores. • All materials MUST be free of Mildew and CANNOT be wet. • PCTW should not be comingled or mixed with single stream waste. • WORN OR TORN CLOTHING CAN BE RECYCLED.

10. Acceptable Items Include: Bedding: (comforters, sheets, pillow cases, blankets) Belts Boots BrasCoats Curtains/Draperies Dresses Flip flops Halloween costumesHats Jackets Jeans Jerseys (sports)Napkins (cloth)Pajamas Pants Pet beds & clothing Pillows Purses Scarves Shirts Shoes (single or in pairs)Shorts Skirts SlippersSocks (single or in pairs) Stuffed animals Suits Sweaters Sweatpants Sweatshirts Table linens Ties TowelsT-shirts Undergarments

11. Identifying Goals and Objectives Your municipality needs to be very clear on what you are trying to accomplish. Make sure that you have clearly defined mission statements and mission objectives to make this possible. For example, volume of pctw your municipality wishes to divert. Two of the most important aspects of your program pertain to the degree of involvement (see following slide ) and partners you engage.

12. Textile Recycling for Municipalities 3 Paths to Increasing Diversion Rates

13. 3 Paths to Increasing Diversion Rates • Which Path to Choose? • Helpful questions to consider when selecting best path for your municipality. • How much pctw does our municipality generate (use calculator)? • Potential Volume your municipality may divert? • Is your municipality interested in short term or longer term solutions? • Does your municipality wish to implement a town wide program? • Does your municipality want to increase recycling revenue and decrease costs on an ongoing basis? • Does your municipality prefer to simply promote and market a program utilizing existing infrastructure only? • If your municipality is interested in developing a long term municipal solution , have you spoken to a solution provider, either private sector or non profit?

14. Main considerations for Municipal Textile Recycling Efforts: Path: Event Based, Municipal, Existing Infrastructure Partner: Options include private sector and non profits What: Description of post consumer textile waste (PCTW) Where: Locations, storage (input from partner) When: If short term/ extended How: Methodology- TBD by partner, Quantify Volume Budget: Revenue Possibility: TBD by partner and market

15. Solution Providers/ Municipal Partners for Recycling PCTW. Within the private sector there are 3 general types of companies that work with municipalities to recycle pctw. Brokers- typically handle brokerage of pctw to recyclers either in US or abroad. Collectors- Typically involved in the collection only of pctw. Collectors that are SMART members sign SMART’s code of conduct which addresses transparency and best practices. Recyclers- Involved in the physical recycling of pctw, end users. In general private sector recyclers may pay municipalities for pctw and typically provide reporting on volumes recycled. Municipalities should also research any private sector company they are considering working with. Charities- Municipalities should vet charities they are considering working with or recommending to residents. www.charitynavigator.org and www.charitywatch.org are two good resources. The following slide lists SMART members in the Mid Atlantic and North East, all companies listed are private sector solution providers.

16. Charity & Private Sector comparison In many municipalities communities run successful textile recycling programs in conjunction with existing charities or even side by side in their recycling yards. Many cities report increased diversion when they promote, “Donate. Recycle. Don’t throw away.” ™ In the City of Boston Goodwill Industries reported significantly increased donations on the heels of a Massachusetts’ state wide effort to increase awareness about textile recycling. When programs are promoted correctly all stakeholders can benefit. Municipalities interested in working with charities should conduct due diligence and visit both www.charitynavigator.org and www.charitywatch.org to learn about the charity you are considering partnering with.

17. List of Private Sector Partners/ Solution Providers for NYS Munis - 1 of 2 pages

18. List of Private Sector Partners/ Solution Providers for NYS Munis - 2 of 2 pages

19. Once your municipality has decide on the path & solution provider to work with…discuss with your textile recycling partner to determine other variables: Where, When, How and Revenue Opportunities…

20. A Coordinated Approach to Success Event Based Textile Recycling One time - Extended

21. Events range from : Day Drive Extended Initiative

22. Recycling Event Day Drive or Extended INTRODUCTION So you want to plan a day drive or extended event? Outstanding! We look forward to working with you to make your day filled with activity, excitement and community involvement. In order for us to begin working with you on this day of recycling and community involvement, we need to help you identify your goals and objectives. First you need to identify whether this is a day/ event drive or an extended drive. Day drives are drives that a community undertakes at a specific event such as a one day municipal textile recycling drive or coordinated school drives, or an event such as Penn State University’s Trash to Treasures http://sites.psu.edu/trash2treasure/about-us/ Sustained or extended drives typically occur over a period of a few weeks to month. With that in mind – we would like to begin with a rough outline of what you need to consider for your day drive – and help to make your drive successful.

23. Get Your Group Together The Core Committee should be composed of individuals who are positive and will work conjointly to organize your recycle day. The Committee should be viewed as an administrative and management tool to organize, plan and execute the drive. The committee has one purpose: the successful completion of the project. There should be a small group of initial Committee members.

24. Event Logistics, Guide for Raising Awareness & Promotional for your One Day or Extended Drive See Appendix A at the back of this presentation, for list of event logistics for both one day and extended drive events See Separate Tips & Public Relations Tool Kit for both Guide to Raising Awareness and Promotional Materials.

25. Day Drive PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS & OBJECTIVES Increase Textile Recycling with annual or bi annual or quarterly one day event. Where: At municipal recycling center or community center. When:One day drives can be executed annually , bi annually, or quarterly in accordance with municipal goals . How :One day drives typically are drop offs. Ask your partner for an estimate of volume. One day events typically yield lower volumes in comparison to longer or ongoing events Budget/ Revenue:Typically smaller volumes, associated with lower revenue.

26. Communicate!!! Residents must understand how and where to recycle. Create a message development and communications team. This team will be responsible for making sure that the public hears what is happening and wants to come. Team members should include: experts in various forms of social media (twitter, Facebook, World Wide Web, trending experts, etc. etc.) as well local business and government members, and other active citizens in the community. Create visual art that visibly uses RECYCLED paper. Examples include: flyers, posters, post cards etc. Advertise on the web with web banners Create a website that demonstrates not only what you want but also shows the people through youtube and Pinterest etc., but also tells them how to do it and encourages them to come and join in. Develop an electronic event newsletter. With this as with other forms of advertising make sure to use paper as little as possible. Communication for this event is Key. We suggest a few common methods of getting the word out such as flyers in your local community. One great service to utilize is Mercury Mail https://www.mercurymail.com/ Other methods that we suggest are a Facebook page, web page from a free program and tweets and texts designed to alert people. Flyers should be short and to the point. To the right are some Bullet Points that we think are important for you to accomplish:

27. Do It Again! Repetition is key. You need to repeat events again and again when they become successful and also look for OTHER venues where you can collect and recycle. If you have tried a fair, try an amusement park. If you can do it at the high school in town, go to a local college.

28. Extended Initiative DEFINITION Extended Recycling Drives allow municipalities to engage alone or with churches, synagogues, businesses, schools, donors and volunteers, permitting them to be more involved with their community. These high traffic volume sites might include schools, apartment complexes, hospitals, churches, and other individual collection pickup sites. We have seen much success with similar programs around the country. It is an active, indoor or outdoor collection program that serves the community with clothing drives, running for an average of around 2-4 weeks, but could be more or less often depending on the size of the municipality and it’s diversion goals. Extended Recycling Drives can increase your total tonnage diverted by maximizing collections from various locations throughout the community or one location over a longer duration.

29. Extended Drive PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS & OBJECTIVES Increase Textile Recycling with Extended Textile Recycling Events. Where: At municipal recycling center or community center. When:Extended drives can be executed annually , bi annually, or quarterly in accordance with municipal goals . How :Extended drives typically are drop offs. Ask your partner for an estimate of volume. Extended event typically yield higher volumes compared to one day drives. Budget/ Revenue:Typically increased volumes, associated with increased revenue compared to one day drives.

30. A Coordinated Approach to Success Ongoing Municipal Textile Recycling

31. Ongoing Municipal Textile Recycling INTRODUCTION Today many municipalities are implementing ongoing municipal textile recycling collection. Municipalities can do this at community locations such as recycling yards, municipal buildings on an ongoing basis. Nationwide municipalities large and small including cities such as San Francisco and New York are implementing textile recycling. To implement an ongoing program your municipality will first need to identify a solution provider either a private sector recycler or charity to work with.

32. Ongoing Municipal Textile Recycling PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS & OBJECTIVES Maximum Volumes and revenue opportunities for pctw recycled with ongoing municipal textile recycling programs. Where: At municipal recycling center or community center, or various locations in community see next slides. When:Ongoing municipal textile recycling runs throughout the year. How :Most successful programs are run via drop off. Municipalities can place collection receptacles at various locations in the community. See Appendix A at back of this presentation. Budget/ Revenue: Typically significantly increased volumes, associated with significantly increased revenues compared to shorter term events

33. Ways to Collect — General Locations • Recycling Centers • Place collection boxes in government offices, church foyers or business lobbies • Schools • Apartment complex common areas • Hospitals

34. A Coordinated Approach to Success Utilize Existing Infrastructure

35. Utilize Existing Infrastructure INTRODUCTION This methodology is the least involved for municipalities and is simpler in scope to implement Municipalities should identify vetted charities and transparent private sector recyclers collecting pctw in their community and their respective locations. Promote and market textile recycling reminding residents to “Donate, Recycle, Don’t Throw Away” and to do so at existing local locations.

36. Utilize Existing Infrastructure PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS & OBJECTIVES Utilize existing infrastructure of existing charities and private sector operators in your municipality. Where: At existing charities or private locations where pctw is accepted. When:Typically throughout the year. How :Materials recycled at existing charities or private locations where pctw accepted. Budget/ Revenue:Only marketing concerns. Typically revenue and reporting will not be available when working with existing infrastructure.

37. Utilize Existing Infrastructure Promotion of Existing Infrastructure Incorporate into recycling calendar, handouts, see our PR tool kit for helpful hints and advice.

38. Appendix A Event Logistics For One Day / Extended Drive Tips and Tricksfrom the Pros So you have now decided that you want to do a clothing drive for your city. Good for you! We applaud your decision to get involved in this and want to help. To that end – we have created lists to help you plan your event and make it as effortless and easy as possible. Please note that the tips that follow are rough guidelines. We hope that you find them useful – but mainly we wish you immense success in not only planning and executing your event – but collecting TONS (literally) of textiles to recycle.

39. Determine logistics • When does the municipality want to run the campaign? • Location: From what place does the community want to run the campagin? • How long does your community want to run the campaign? • Where will recycled textile product be stored? • Does your city or solution provider have excess to storage trailers, a good relationship with a trucking company, or will you need to rent storage trailers? • Are there any community business partners who have access to warehouse space or storage units? • Is their municipality looking at this as a one-time event, or at running the campaign annually, bi-annually, quarterly, monthly…or hoping to GROW it to that? • Who will be the Point Person: Person in charge of campaign?

40. Determine funding sources if needed? • Initial Investment needed? • Are there funds available for campaign needs? • Does your community have any business partners that could or would invest in this green partnership? • What supplies are needed for the campaign? • In most instances non profits and private sector recyclers will provide all materials needed and events one time or extended can be done for little to no cost. Speak to your solution provider.

41. Determine internal connections • Key Stakeholders • Recycling/ Solid Waste Coordinator • Public Relations Manager • Volunteer Coordinator • Recycling Committee

42. Determine external connections • Schools/PTA/PTO • Government Offices • Recycling Center • Church/Clergy/Rabbis etc. • Businesses/CEO/Manager • Apartment/Condominium Managers • Women’s Auxiliary Groups • Political Groups • Service Groups (Rotary; Lions; Sunrise Exchange; etc.) • Environmental Organizations • Municipal Environmental Management Councils

43. Strategize marketing • Printed Materials – See separate • Public Relations Materials • Cover Letters • Informational Brochure • Banner Signage • Half Sheet Flyers • Signage for Collection Boxes • Church Bulletin Inserts • Table Tents • Door Hangers (Apartment/Condominium Complexes) • Digital Tactics • Facebook • Email • Websites • Jump Drives • Public Service Announcement (PSA) • Linkedin

44. General Locations For Day or Extended Drives • Recycling Centers • Place collection boxes in government offices, church foyers or business lobbies • Schools • Apartment complex common areas • Hospitals

45. Supplies • Additional bags, ladder, tables and canopy or tent if inclement weather is expected. • Bathroom facilities. • Water, coffee, and donuts if loading is in the morning or pizzas or something else simple if loading is in the afternoon. • Gloves and hand sanitizer. • Brooms to push bags up higher on the truck.

46. Explain the Procedure People who recycle usually have some questions about what happens to their product. They may want to know, a few statistics, what happens to their old clothes when they donate etc. Volunteers and people involved in the event should have a one page “fact sheet” for inquisitive donors. The sheet should include not only facts on the textiles – but also a few facts about any other products that you plan to recycle at the event such as plastic, paper etc. You can find relevant information in the attached PR tool kit.

47. Stay Efficient and Say Thanks! When people come to recycle they are doing so as a volunteer. You need to have a system designed to collect that makes it as easy as possible for people to donate, and shows your gratitude for their hard work. Donation bins and tables are good ideas, along with spare trash bags with ties. Say please and thank you as often as possible. We even suggest having volunteers who are designated as “Thankers,” people who walk along saying thank your for recycling to everyone who recycles. THANK YOU

48. Post Event Assessment When you are finished sit down with the committee – go over the day and ask what more could we have done? Ask yourselves the following questions: How could we have spread the message better, collected more pctw, and organized better?

49. Miscellaneous Suggestions • Use signs to mark all trash/ recycling and composting areas. • Make Public Service Announcements letting people know where to recycle and return name tags. Doing so will not only let people know how to be environmentally friendly, it also lets them know that you care. • Sweep the location when it is finished. Your event area should be clean from your participation and generally better than you found it. • Make sure that you have volunteers or staff members specifically designated. • Depending on the size of the event – contract out with the local public works department and various recycling and garbage contractors to assist with the clean-up. • Keep statistics, not only pounds of textiles collected. (i.e. numbers of helpers, attendees, pounds collected, etc)

50. . Don’t know or need advice… Jackie King SMART/ CTR jackie@kingmgmt.org Lisa Ruggero NYSAR3 nysar3@gmail.com