FACTSHEET – CHARITABLE RECYCLING ORGANISATIONS1

NACRO

NACRO is the peak body representing charitable collection, sorting, reuse and recycling organisations throughout Australia.

All NACRO members are charities that collect post-consumer waste to either redistribute to those in need or to fund their programs. Charitable recyclers receive donations through three main streams; donations by way of street corner donation bins, drop-offs at op shops, and direct home collection.

Collectively, NACRO members operate thousands of op shops around Australia and are the largest and oldest recycling cohort in the country.

Through its website and awareness campaigns, such as National Op Shop Week, NACRO seeks to educate the public to donate goods responsibly to enable the delivery of community programs.

Charitable recycling ― Reuse, Recycle and Return to the community.

The charitable recycling sector is integral to the way Australians conserve resources and minimise waste. In Australia, Charitable Recyclers are the principal agents for the reuse of household items that would have otherwise been municipal solid waste (MSW).

In 2009, Australians donated 254 000 tonnes of unwanted clothing and household goods to charitable recyclers. Of this, 86 000 tonnes were reused by the community, either given to those in need or sold through more than 3000 charity op shops across the country. A further 59 000 tonnes of goods were exported for use in developing countries and 21 000 tonnes were recycled, including conversion to wiper rags by social enterprise groups.

In 2012, total volume of donations was estimated at around 300 000 tonnes. Analysis of how donations are used shows that while there has been a general increase in reusable and recyclable donations, there has been a significant decrease in goods for export. The increasing prevalence of commercial recycling schemes, including commercial recycling bins and clothing bags, has reduced the stock available for export by charitable recyclers.

1 This information is taken from a NACRO submission to the National Waste Report 2013 dated July 2013

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National Waste Reporting 2013

Figure 1 Destination of donations to charitable recyclers in 2009 and 2012 (tonnes)

Some donations cannot be effectively reused or recycled and are disposed to waste. Since2009, there has been a corresponding increase in the volume of material disposed to landfill by charity recyclers with the increased volume of donations.

There has also been a very significant increase in illegal dumping of waste at charity recyclers since 2009. This illegal dumping has offset gains in reuse and recycling of donations. It is estimated that 40 per cent of the material charity recyclers are now disposing to waste arises from illegal dumping.

Figure 2 Breakdown of use of donations for 2009 and 2012

Each year, charitable recyclers process and sort around 2 billion donated items nationally. The role and value of charitable recyclers in Australia’s waste management system cannot be overstated.

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The role of charitable recyclers

Historically, charitable recycling in Australia evolved in a uniquely Australian way to meet the challenges faced by the developing nation. Australia has frequent natural disasters, geographically isolated communities and a strong desire to help those in need. Long before the term recycling, even before Federation, Australian charities took on the responsibility to redistribute clothing and household goods to those in need.

Figure 3 Salvation Army facilities (late 1800’s)

In times of crisis, Australian communities turn to charitable recyclers to provide much needed material aid. Red Cross, Salvation Army, Society of St Vincent de Paul and the Brotherhood of St Laurence, to name a few, are the first organisations called on by Australian state governments to help when families are displaced by bushfire and flood.

Charitable recyclers invest heavily in the organisation and infrastructure to support the collection, sorting, stockpiling and distribution of clothing and household goods.

Figure 4 Donations at a Victorian warehouse after the Black Saturday bushfires, February 2009

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The purpose of charitable recycling is to clothe those in need and to raise money for charitable programs. It also provides work opportunities for the disadvantaged, volunteer roles in the community, low cost shopping options and diversion from land fill. It is highly valued by the community and is enabled and protected by state and federal laws.

It is a large and multi-faceted community service, managed by a cohort of thousands of dedicated recyclers. All operate within complex, less than prescriptive, environments. Activities can be restricted by state zoning regulations and space, staff and volunteers may be highly qualified or untrained, they may be able-bodied or have disabilities. Such things determine what can and cannot be accepted and when.

One of the distinctive characteristics of the sector is its significant workforce of volunteers who offer their time, talent and energy without expectation of reward other than the satisfaction of giving back to the community, for social enjoyment or for work experience to help gain paid employment. Volunteers carry out roles specific to both charitable recycling and the provision of welfare services. In addition to more than 2 500 full– and part–time staff, the sector depends on more than 70 000 volunteers performing a variety of roles including collection, sorting, administration, management and fundraising

Effect of waste management policy

By its very nature, charitable recycling will have items to dispose to waste. Aside from illegal dumping, some donations cannot be effectively reused or recycled and donations can become damaged.

Figure 5 Illegal dumping at charitable recyclersThe charitable recycling sector is increasingly affected by illegal dumping. While not all charities or locations are affected equally, the single largest contributing factor identified by charitable recyclers has been the imposition of increased landfill levies.

An unintended consequence of state government policies to improve waste management has been the diversion of waste from lawful disposal onto charitable recyclers. Residents and businesses are illegally dumping at charitable recyclers to avoid paying tip fees and landfill levies.

The effect on charitable recyclers has been twofold. In addition to the increased cost of disposing of unusable donations, there has been a significant increase in illegal dumping of litter at donation points and charity op shops.

In a survey by NACRO of Victorian charitable recyclers in July 2013, 100 per cent of respondents said that illegal dumping, both at charity stores and clothing donation bins on council or private land, was greater or considerably greater than three years ago and attributed this to substantial increases to the landfill levy over this period. 90 per cent of respondents continue to receive dumped e–waste, with 60 per cent saying there has been little or no change since the introduction of e–waste product stewardship legislation.

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Each Australian state has taken a different approach to landfill levies and has addressed the concerns of charitable recyclers in different ways. In NSW and the ACT, charities are exempted from paying the levy, Queensland has no levy and in WA the levy is comparatively small.

In 2012, the Victorian state government provided funding to charitable recyclers to offset the increased costs they were experiencing and to fund research into the treatment and causes of illegal dumping.2 This program is currently ongoing.

Figure 6 Cost of waste disposal as a percentage of sales (Salvos Stores, 2013)

A study by Salvos Stores in Victoria in 2013 showed that the cost of waste disposal, which had been constant for many years at around 1.8 per cent of sales, began to increase markedly after the changes to the Victorian landfill levy from 2010. The study showed that the cost of waste disposal rose to nearly double what had been expected prior to the increases. It is now more than 3.5 per cent of sales and is expected to continue to rise (see Figure 6). The cost includes waste contractor charges and self-haul tip fees. It does not include the cost of sorting, clearing and transferring the material.

Disposal to waste

For more than 10 years, Lifeline Brisbane has been recording the weekly quantity of material (by tonne) that they have disposed to waste. Lifeline has recorded both material dumped at donation bins and material that has been diverted to waste through their sorting and recycling operations.

2 http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/5935-more-coalition-government-funding-relief-for-charities-hit-by-illegal-dumping.html (accessed 10 December 2013)

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Figure 7 Lifeline Brisbane, 10 year waste volumes (52 week trendline)

A 52–week moving average trendline analysis (Figure 7) of the collected data shows that while there has been a significant reduction in material going to waste because of improved sorting and recycling operations and options, there has been a significant increase in dumping at the clothing donation bins.

The reduced diversion to waste from sorting operations is attributed to better recycling methods for cardboard, paper and scrap metal.

Figure 8 Lifeline Stores Brisbane, 10 year waste volumes (12 week trendline)

An analysis of the 12–week moving average trendline (Figure 8) shows seasonal variation in both disposal to waste through sorting and illegal dumping at charity donation bins. Seasonal variations in disposal through sorting reflect typically 20 per cent less donations during the winter months.

Illegal dumping over summer is more than double that in the winter months. This is consistent with the experience of charitable recyclers in other states. The data very

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clearly shows increased dumping at the time of the flooding in Brisbane in both 2011 and 2012.Commercialising second-hand clothing through export

Global trade in second-hand clothing is growing and is now a multi-million dollar business. The trade more than doubled between 1991 and 2004, mainly due to increased demand from Eastern Bloc and African countries. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that export of worn clothing and textiles from Australia grew nearly 50 per cent from 2008 to2013 (Figure 9).

Figure 9 Quarterly export of worn clothing and textiles (tonnes), 2008–13 (ABS 2013)

More than 70 000 tonnes of second-hand clothing was exported from Australia last year. The value of this business is estimated to be over $70 million and is resulting in schemes by some commercial operators to divert donations away from bona fide charities.

Figure 10 A fraudulently labelled clothing bin

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Second-hand clothing for export is usually baled in Australia and shipped as unsorted textile waste to low labour cost countries where the goods are sorted and re-exported. Three-quarters of all second-hand clothing exported from Australia goes to one of three primary destinations for sorting, UAE (38 per cent), Malaysia (21 per cent) and Pakistan (14 per cent). Historically, charitable recyclers would sort clothing donations, retaining good quality items for material aid or for selling in their op shops. Lesser grade goods would be sold to rag merchants either for tearing down for other uses or to be sold overseas.

In recent years the rag merchants have increased their presence with their own clothing recycling bins displacing those of charitable recyclers as they strive to collect tradeable stock for export. Another scheme to solicit second-hand clothing is through the distribution of branded clothing recycling bags, many of which are fraudulently labelled.

NACRO state that the clothing recycling bin above (Figure 10) was found to be a fraudulently labelled, commercially operated bin. It displays Charity Operated stickers supplied by the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing but no other identification. NACRO members commit to a code of practice for the operation of clothing donation bins to ensure safe and appropriate siting and clear identification and contact information of the organisation.

A 2012 NACRO study of seven Victorian eastern metropolitan municipalities, found that of more than 448 clothing collection bins, only 18 per cent belonged to legitimate charitable recyclers. The rest belonged to commercial clothing merchants.

The aggressive placement of clothing recycling bins by commercial clothing recyclers diverts donations away from charitable recyclers. This diversion of second-hand clothing away from charitable recyclers greatly reduces the stock available for material aid and diminishes the charities’ ability to raise funds to support their community work.

A number of Local Government Authorities have introduced policies and local laws to protect the placement of charity donation bins as the domain of charitable recyclers. NACRO is actively lobbying municipal councils asking them to ensure charitable recycling can continue to meet the needs of the community.

Summary

For more than 100 years, charitable recycling has been an integral part of Australian society; delivering social and community programs, creating employment, providing opportunities for volunteers and diverting reusable items of clothing and household goods from being disposed to landfill.

Charitable recyclers depend on quality donations to either redistribute to those in need or to sell to fund their charitable activities through more than 3000 charity op shops across the country.

Two significant challenges faced by charitable recyclers today are the illegal dumping of household waste at op shops, charity collections points and bins and the diversion of donations away from charities by commercial operators seeking goods for profit.

Items such as old televisions, unusable mattresses, broken furniture and household waste are increasingly being dumped at charity collection points. Some people in the community are expanding their view of what constitutes a donation to suit their need to dispose of unwanted items.

Waste authorities across the country are imposing increasingly higher costs for disposal of waste to encourage waste producers to reduce their waste and find alternatives to landfill.

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The policy of increasing landfill levies is leading to increased dumping and increased financial burden on charitable recyclers.

Some facts about illegal dumping at charitable recycling collection points are:

Dumping around collection points is a seasonal issue, greater in summer months and after long weekends

Most dumping occurs during school holidays

Dumping is less during weeks of hard rubbish collection

Illegal dumping is less when charity op shops are open on Sundays

Banning recycling collection points is not the answer as it restricts donations and the dumping will simply move to other locations. NACRO believes that education is the solution to a change in values and behaviour in recycling post-consumer waste.

For more information on charitable recycling organisations or NACRO visit http://www.nacro.org.au/.

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The information in this factsheet was supplied by the National Association of Charitable Recycling Organisations (NACRO) in July 2013. For more information, please contact Kerryn Caulfield, CEO, at kerryn@nacro.org.au.

Case Study – Endeavour Foundation

The Endeavour Foundation supports people with a disability to live in their family home, in their community, with their friends and to make their own choices about education, working and their whole life. It focuses on giving each person options, choice and support that is centred on them and their life. Within this philosophy it provides a range of support options for people of all ages.

To raise funds and to provide employment options, the Endeavour Foundation has partnerships with a number of local government authorities, managing front end recycling operations and selling salvageable waste in retail environments.

It operates Tip Shops in commercial arrangements with Brisbane City Council (2), Southern Downs Regional Council (2), and Sunshine Coast Council (1). Southern Downs and Sunshine Coast Councils also have Front End Recycling contracts with Endeavour Foundation.

In 2011–12, these partnerships successfully recycled 5532 tonnes of material which comprised:

1800 tonnes cardboard

1100 tonnes paper

409 tonnes e–waste

1495 tonnes textiles

19 tonnes plastic

50 tonnes glass

219 tonnes steel

440 tonnes of general household goods via Endeavour Foundation Tip Shops.

The “dual-benefit” partnership between Endeavour Foundation and local Councils is appreciated, particularly where supported employment opportunities for people with a disability are delivered alongside recycling and environmental outcomes.

The Endeavour Foundation is a proud member of NACRO (National Association of Charitable Recycling Organisations), Community Recycling Network Australia, and the National e–Waste Alliance.

In addition to its contracts with local government authorities, Endeavour Foundation is contracted by DHL Supply Lines to recycle eWaste at Townsville in North Queensland, Redcliffe, North-East of Brisbane and Southport on the Gold Coast, providing meaningful employment for people with a disability and keeping old TVs and computers from landfill.

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