Wondering what to do with those old coats in the attic? Are your tattered gym socks taking up valuable drawer space? A solution is on the way.

Selectmen last week voted to launch a new curbside recycling program that will allow residents to dispose of unwanted textiles by simply leaving them in a bag on the sidewalk.

Under a new three-year contract, the town will partner with Simple Recycling to operate the service, which comes at no additional cost to residents or the community.

“We think this is a win-win for the town,” Framingham highway and sanitation director Daniel Nau told the board last week. “It creates a curbside program that would be beneficial for our residents, as well as help (reduce) … solid waste.”

In Massachusetts, about 5.6 percent of all residential waste is made up of reusable textiles, such as clothes, drapes or bedspreads, according to material the company provided to the town. The vast majority of that material winds up in the trash, even though residents have opportunities to recycle it by placing it in dropboxes at churches, schools and charities. Only about 15 percent is currently recovered.

In the coming weeks, Simple Recycling will send mailers to all residents notifying them of the new textile recycling program. Households will also receive a pair of bright, pink plastic bags about a week and a half before it launches.

Residents can discard unwanted clothes, drapes, bedspreads and other textiles by placing them in the bags and leaving them on the curb beside their recycling bins. Employees of Simple Recycling will travel the town’s recycling routes in private vans and collect the items, leaving behind replacement plastic bags.

An estimated 17,733 households in Framingham currently participate in curbside trash and recycling collection. It’s estimated the new textile recycling program could take 88 tons of material out of the waste stream per year.

The town stands to see a modest financial gain, according to the company, which estimates Framingham will save $6,100 in garbage disposal fees by taking waste out of the trash. Simple Recycling will also reimburse the town $20 per ton of textiles collected, generating an estimated yearly payout of about $1,700 — a combined $7,800 financial gain.

The company will accept more than just clothes; other items that can be discarded in the pink bags include jewelry, purses, hats, toys, pictures, mirrors, blankets, tools, silverware, glasses and backpacks.

Simple Recycling, which currently serves some 800,000 households across the country, makes a profit by reselling the goods it picks up. A small fraction of the items wind up back on the rack at thrift stores. The bulk of the material is either recycled and sent to the rag and insulation manufacturing markets, or repaired and sold into markets that use repaired textiles.

Selectmen voted 4-0 to execute a three-year contract with the company, saying they’re impressed by the plan. Board member Jason Smith said he likes the convenience of being able to discard items by simply leaving them in a bag on the curb.

“That I see as a huge advantage,” Smith said, “especially for our senior population.”

To read the full story, visit http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/20171013/framingham-launches-curbside-textile-recycling-program.

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