Clothes Donation & Textile Recycling in Australia

Australians are among the world's biggest consumers of fast fashion, buying an average of 27 kilograms of new clothing per person each year. Most of it ends up in landfill within a few years. Here's how to give your old clothes a better outcome — from selling for profit, to donating, to responsible recycling.

1. Sell it (if it's in good condition)

Clean, wearable clothing in reasonable condition can often be sold for cash or credit:

• Depop — popular for Gen Z fashion, vintage, and streetwear. Set up a profile and list items for free.
• Facebook Marketplace — good for bundles and local pickup. Low effort but lower prices.
• eBay — best for branded or higher-value items. Broader audience but requires postage.
• Vinted — growing fast in Australia; dedicated to second-hand fashion.
• Market Stalls — Camberwell Market (VIC), Surry Hills Market (NSW), and many others accept pre-loved fashion sellers for a small fee.
• Consignment stores — shops like The Salvos Stores, Recycle Boutique (NZ/AU), and local vintage stores often accept quality items on consignment.

2. Donate it

Wearable clothing in clean, decent condition can be donated to charity op shops. Key things to know:

• Salvation Army (Salvos) — most stores accept clothing donations, and you may be able to book a collection for larger volumes. Check availability at salvos.org.au.
• St Vincent de Paul (Vinnies) — op shops across Australia accept clothing donations in store. Check their website for collection bins near you.
• Lifeline — accepts clothing donations. Proceeds fund mental health services.
• Red Cross — op shops accept clothing. Also runs online stores for better-condition items.

Important: Only donate clean, wearable items. Charity op shops are overwhelmed with damaged, stained, or unwearable donations that they can't sell and must pay to dispose of. If you wouldn't wear it yourself, don't donate it — recycle it instead (see below).

3. Recycle worn-out textiles

Clothing that's too worn, stained, or damaged to sell or donate can still be diverted from landfill through textile recycling programs:

• H&M in-store recycling — participating H&M stores accept clothing of most brands, in most conditions, for collection and sorting. Check with your local store or hm.com for current availability.
• Uniqlo RE.UNIQLO — participating stores accept Uniqlo-brand items for recycling or resale; check with your local store for availability.
• Cotton On — many stores host drop-off bins for old clothing; check with your local store for current availability.
• Worn Up — Australian service that collects and recycles denim and workwear. Check their website for details.
• Council textile recycling bins — some councils provide yellow or orange textile recycling bins separate from clothing donation bins. Check your local council website.

What about shoes?

Shoes can generally be donated to op shops if they're clean and in wearable condition. For worn-out shoes:

• Nike Reuse-A-Shoe — participating Nike stores accept worn athletic shoes (most brands) for grinding into sports surfaces. Check with your local store first.
• Planet Ark's Shoes with Soul — check their website for current collection events.

The Seamless clothing stewardship scheme

Australia now has a national clothing product stewardship scheme called Seamless, launched to tackle the country's enormous textile waste problem. Under the scheme, participating brands contribute a small levy per garment to fund collection, sorting, and recycling infrastructure and to encourage more durable, recyclable design. Major retailers including Big W, Cotton On, David Jones, Rip Curl, and others have signed on.

For shoppers, Seamless is a useful signal: brands that participate are investing in end-of-life solutions for their clothing, and you can expect more in-store take-back options over time. It complements the retailer recycling programs above rather than replacing them.

The landfill problem

About 800,000 tonnes of textile waste goes to Australian landfill each year — that's roughly 32 kg per person. Synthetic fabrics like polyester and nylon can take hundreds of years to break down. Even "natural" fibres like cotton in landfill produce methane as they decompose. Recycling even worn-out textiles keeps fibres in use and reduces pressure on landfill.

State-by-state differences

Charity op shops and retailer take-back programs operate nationally, but kerbside and drop-off options for textiles vary a lot by council:

• Victoria — Sustainability Victoria has funded textile collection trials and several councils offer dedicated clothing banks. Melbourne has a dense network of charity bins and stores, so donation is easy in the metro area.
• NSW — the NSW EPA supports charitable recycling, and Sydney councils host clothing donation bins from charities like the Salvos and SCRgroup. Some councils accept textiles at Community Recycling Centres.
• Queensland — donation bins are widespread through Lifeline and Endeavour Foundation, which runs a large op-shop network across the state.
• South Australia — SA's strong reuse culture and container-deposit infrastructure mean plenty of charity outlets; Green Industries SA promotes textile diversion.
• WA, Tasmania, NT & regional areas — charity stores and clothing banks are the main channels; retailer recycling bins (H&M, Uniqlo, Cotton On) are concentrated in larger shopping centres, so regional residents may need to post items or wait for the Seamless network to expand.

Almost no council accepts loose textiles in the kerbside recycling bin — clothing tangles in sorting machinery and contaminates paper and plastic streams. Always use a charity, a retailer program, or a dedicated textile bank.

Common mistakes

• Donating dirty, wet, or damaged clothing. Charities spend millions each year dumping unsellable donations. If an item is stained, mouldy, torn, or you wouldn't wear it yourself, send it to a textile recycler instead of an op shop.
• Leaving donations outside a closed store or a full bin. Bags left on the footpath get rained on, stolen, or become dumped rubbish the charity must pay to clear. Donate during opening hours or use a bin that isn't overflowing.
• Putting clothes in the yellow kerbside bin. Textiles are not accepted in kerbside recycling anywhere in Australia and jam the sorting equipment.
• Recycling shoes and belts loose in a clothing bank. Pair shoes together (tie the laces) and separate accessories so sorters can process them.
• Overestimating what fast fashion can be recycled into. Blended and low-quality fabrics are hard to recycle into new clothing; much becomes insulation or rags. Buying better and wearing longer beats recycling every time.
• Forgetting to empty pockets. Check for keys, cash, and cards before you donate or recycle.

Cost and value

Donating and recycling clothes is generally free — charities and retailer take-back bins typically don't charge you to hand items in, though programs and their availability vary by location, so check with the organisation. The potential to make money depends on quality: branded, vintage, or as-new items can return real cash on Depop, Vinted, eBay, or through consignment, while everyday high-street pieces are usually worth more as a donation than the time it takes to list them.

There is also a hidden cost worth understanding. Every unsellable item you donate ends up costing the charity money in sorting and disposal — the sector spends an estimated tens of millions of dollars a year sending unusable "donations" to landfill. Donating only genuinely wearable clothing, and recycling the rest through the right channel, keeps more of the charities' money going to their actual causes.

Frequently asked questions

Can I donate underwear and socks?

Charities generally cannot resell used underwear or socks for hygiene reasons. Unless they are brand new with tags, put worn undergarments through a textile recycling program (such as H&M or Cotton On bins) rather than donating them.

What can I do with stained or ripped clothes?

Don't donate them — take them to a retailer textile recycling bin (H&M, Uniqlo, Cotton On) or a council textile bank. Worn-out fabric is turned into insulation, industrial rags, and stuffing rather than resold.

Can clothes go in the yellow recycling bin?

No. Textiles are not accepted in kerbside recycling anywhere in Australia; they tangle in sorting machinery and contaminate other recyclables. Always use a charity or a dedicated textile recycling program.

Where can I recycle worn-out shoes?

Wearable shoes can be donated to op shops. For worn athletic shoes, Nike's Reuse-A-Shoe program accepts most brands at participating stores and grinds them into sports surfaces — check with your local store first. Tie pairs together before dropping them off.

Is it worth selling my old clothes online?

It depends on the item. Branded, vintage, and near-new pieces can sell well on Depop, Vinted, or eBay. For ordinary high-street clothing, the return often isn't worth the effort, so donating is usually the better choice.

What is the Seamless scheme?

Seamless is Australia's national clothing product stewardship scheme. Participating brands pay a small levy per garment to fund textile collection and recycling and to encourage more durable design. Look for participating retailers offering in-store take-back as the scheme grows.