Last year, Apparel Impact, Joe Whitten’s for-profit company, diverted 10 million pounds of textiles from landfills in New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New York. At its Hooksett headquarters, bloated capsacks stuffed with 400 pounds of donated clothing, shoes, accessories, and bedding are stacked high, nearing the ceiling.
Textiles are one of the fastest growing waste streams in the country, approaching 10 percent of total municipal solid waste. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that landfills nationally received 11.3 million tons of textile waste in 2018, and 3.2 million tons of textiles were incinerated. “And it’s only getting worse because of fast fashion,” said Whitten, Apparel Impact’s founder and CEO, referring to cheap, trendy clothing that’s mass-produced at low cost.
An endeavor that Whitten began in New Hampshire in 2014, textile reuse and recycling options are a growing need in the U.S. Last year, for example, Massachusetts banned textiles in the trash, meaning residents and businesses now have to seek alternative destinations for their ripped jeans, stained sweaters, or the belt that doesn’t fit anymore. The Bay State also banned mattresses.