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Clothing and Textile Recovery

In November 2022, Massachusetts banned textiles from disposal. Textiles include clothing, footwear, bedding, curtains, fabric, and scraps of all sizes that are clean and dry. Even if your textiles are worn, torn, or stained, they can still be donated to a textile recycler. Visit Beyond the Bin below to find a textile collection bin, donation option or recycler near you.

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Beyond the Bin

Do you have clothing, shoes, or other textiles that you no longer wear or use, but still have plenty of life left in them? Don't throw them away!

Donate them to an organization that will find new owners or uses for these items. Search the MassDEP-supported Beyond the Bin Recycling Directory by type of material and your location. It will display a list of nearby locations where you can drop off unwanted clothing, shoes, and other textiles for donation to organizations that will resell, reuse, recycle, or repurpose them.

In addition, some companies and stores accept certain items for reuse or recycling. Please refer to the document posted here, Retail Return and Donation Options for a partial list.

Waste Ban Compliance Assistance for Municipalities

Effective November 1, 2022: Textiles are banned from disposal or transport for disposal in Massachusetts.

The MassDEP Mattress & Textile Waste Ban Communications Toolkit provides a library of images, materials, strategies, and tips you can use to get the word out about this change to the residents of your community.

For waste disposal ban purposes, textiles are defined as bedding, clothing, curtains, fabric, footwear, towels, and similar items. Virtually any textile can be reused, repurposed, or recycled if clean and dry. Even worn, torn, and stained items have recovery value.

Certain contaminated textiles are exempt from the disposal ban. For definitions, see the regulations.

Learn about your city or town's responsibilities for complying with the new provisions and companies that provide textile collection services in Additional Resources below.

Additional Resources   for Waste Ban Compliance Assistance for Municipalities

Open PDF file, 180.22 KB,  Textile Collection Organizations Operating in Massachusetts That Serve Municipalities, Including Websites and Contact Info (English, PDF 180.22 KB)
Open PDF file, 225.76 KB,  Fact Sheet: Your Municipality & Waste Ban Compliance (English, PDF 225.76 KB)
Open PDF file, 772.36 KB,  Frequently Asked Questions: Mattress & Textile Waste Ban (English, PDF 772.36 KB)
Open PDF file, 1.08 MB,  Presentation: Waste Ban Webinar for Municipal Transfer Station Operators, July 2022 (English, PDF 1.08 MB)

Municipal Regulation of Textile Drop-Off Boxes

While collecting textiles for reuse and recycling provides important environmental, social, and economic benefits, it is important that textile collection locations are properly located, overseen and managed.   Improperly managed collection locations can result in:

  • People dropping off any and all unwanted items, not just textiles - including leaving them on the ground outside containers, creating eyesores and attracting pests; and
  • Resident confusion over whether containers are maintained by charitable organizations or for-profit businesses.

Learn how some Massachusetts communities are addressing these issues through the adoption of local by-laws and regulations. See examples in Additional Resources below.

Additional Resources   for Municipal Regulation of Textile Drop-Off Boxes

Open PDF file, 147 KB,  Best Practices for Creating a Textile Donation Bin Ordinance (English, PDF 147 KB)
Open PDF file, 203.03 KB,  City of Gardner: Unattended Donation Box Regulation (English, PDF 203.03 KB)
Open PDF file, 27.92 KB,  City of New Bedford: Unattended Clothing Donation Containers Regulation (English, PDF 27.92 KB)
Open PDF file, 82.58 KB,  City of Taunton: Regulation of Drop Boxes (English, PDF 82.58 KB)
Open PDF file, 187.18 KB,  City of Weymouth: Public Schools Textile Case Study (English, PDF 187.18 KB)

Textiles by the Numbers

Across Massachusetts:

  • Residents and businesses dispose of approximately 230,000 tons of textiles annually.
  • More than 5 percent of the waste delivered to combustion facilities is made up of clothing, curtains, towels, and other fabrics.
  • About 85 percent of the textiles currently being thrown away could be donated, reused, or recycled instead.

The infographic below illustrates how valuable these textiles can be.

Secret Life of Donated Textiles Infographic

Infographic courtesy of Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles (SMART)®

See Additional Resources below to learn more.

Additional Resources   for Textiles by the Numbers

Open PDF file, 200.02 KB,  MassDEP Fact Sheet: Used Textiles - A Valuable Resource (Updated 2024) (English, PDF 200.02 KB)
Open PDF file, 251.65 KB,  Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) Fact Sheet: Scrap Textiles (English, PDF 251.65 KB)
Open PDF file, 653.17 KB,  MassDEP Textiles by the Numbers: Municipal and Commercial Collection Data, Infographics, and Maps (English, PDF 653.17 KB)

News & Updates

November 1, 2022

MassDEP has expanded its waste disposal bans by:

  • Adding textiles and mattresses to the list of materials banned from disposal or transport for disposal in Massachusetts, and
  • Lowering the threshold on commercial organic/food waste to facilities generating more than one-half ton of these materials per week.

For waste disposal ban purposes, textiles are defined as bedding, clothing, curtains, fabric, footwear, towels, and similar items. See a complete list here from Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles (SMART).

Virtually any textile can be reused, repurposed, or recycled if clean and dry. Even worn, torn, and stained items have recovery value.

Certain contaminated textiles are exempt from the disposal ban. For definitions, see the regulations.

October 2021

MassDEP issued its final 2030 Solid Waste Master Plan, establishing goals to reduce disposal statewide by 30 percent (from 5.7 million tons in 2018 to 4 million tons in 2030) over the next decade. It set a long-term goal of achieving a 90 percent reduction in disposal to 570,000 tons by 2050. 

See Additional Resources below to learn more.

Effective November 1, 2022: Textiles are banned from disposal or transport for disposal in Massachusetts.

Additional Resources   for News & Updates

Open file,  Solid Waste Master Plan
Open file,  310 CMR 19.000: Solid Waste Facility Regulations
Open file,  MassDEP Waste Disposal Bans
Open PDF file, 772.36 KB,  Frequently Asked Questions: Mattress & Textile Waste Ban (English, PDF 772.36 KB)

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