Give Your Clothes A Second Life

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INDUSTRY KNOWLEDGEWe have experienced staff and a research and development team to ensure our knowledge is up-to-date with the latest local and global trends.

SOCIAL BENEFITSWe work with social enterprises and charities, creating jobs for minority groups and providing sustainable income streams for important social causes.

BEST PRACTICEWe follow best practice guidelines in the servicing and maintenance of our Clothing and Electrical Drop-Off Hubs.

REPORTINGWe can audit and track the journey of the items we collect and report on data required for quarterly and end-of-year corporate reporting.

WHY CHOOSE US?

History of Clothing Reuse and Recycling page 16

About SCRgroup page 5

Our Impact in 2017 page 6

Our Services page 10

Meet the Team page 14

Where Does Everything Go? page 13

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GDP workers at the GDP warehouse in Ge

Image (left): GDP employees at the GDP warehouse sorting through clothing collected from SCRgroup Clothing Drop-Off Hubs located around Geelong VIC. (From left to right) Tommy Kovicev, Andrew Hodges and Christopher Biggs.

About SCRgroup

Established in 2008, SCRgroup has grown to become one of Australia’s most preferred companies for the recovery of clothing and homewares for reuse and recycling. Each year we save approximately 12 million kilograms from landfill and instead find new homes for our unwanted items – giving them a second life in local and developing international markets. As a purpose-driven business, our aim is to improve the livelihoods of the communities in which we operate. Our model is based on important partnerships with Australian Disability Enterprises (ADEs) and other social enterprises, providing sustainable employment opportunities for people with disabilities and disadvantaged youth at risk. We also partner with Australian charities such as the Australian Red Cross, The Smith Family and Save The Children, to provide sustainable incomes that fund their social causes and increase awareness. Our services include Clothing and Electrical Drop-Off Hubs placed at shopping centres and other public locations, Pop Up Drive-Thru Recycling Days and Home Collections for Councils, Educational and Fundraising School Programs that teach students about the importance and benefits of reuse and recycling and Clothing Take-Back Programs for retailers and hotels. We can customise programs that suits your business or organisation’s needs. We are constantly improving our services and reinvesting in research and development. Currently SCRgroup is analysing reuse and recycling attitudes and behaviours in Australia and participating in projects to help solve the problem of illegal dumping.

In 2017, we saved communities over $1.9 million in avoided landfill fees

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Image (top left): Toys collected by SCRgroup being distributed in developing communities around the world. Image (bottom left): Dang and Nurintan working at our Australian partner sorting facility in Malaysia.

Our Impact in 2017

In 2017, we collected over 35,000 kilograms of unwanted items per day, amounting to over 12.8 million kilograms for the year. The impact of this is more than just environmental, we were able to record significant social benefit via sustainable funding and job creation for partner charities and social enterprises.

70%15%15%

Total collections that met quality standards and were reused in local and global communities, where they were needed the most.

Total collections broken down for recycling.

Total collections that weren’t able to be reused or recycled. These collections were converted from waste to alternate fuels.

12.8 million kilograms of unwanted items collected.

29.1 million unwanted items made it into the hands of people across the world who needed them.

110 local Australian jobs supported, including for people living with disabilities and youth at risk.

90 people found ethical and safe employment in SCR’s Australian-owned partner facility in Malaysia, supporting a developing economy.

$1.4 million was provided to Australian charities through SCRgroup’s clothing collection programs.

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Customised Clothing and Electrical Drop-Off Hubs Spaghetti Junction, Monash City Council VIC

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Clothing and Electrical Drop-Off Hubs

SCRgroup can provide signature Clothing and Electrical Drop-Off Hubs or customised Hubs that meet client requirements. Each Hub collects approximately 7-10 tonnes per year of unwanted clothing and electrical items and provides an invaluable facility for local residents to access. SCRgroup uses the latest technology, such as sensors that notify drivers when their designated Hub has reached 80% capacity. Labels are also clear and transparent and were designed with public input.

Home Collection Service

Our home collection service can be booked online or over the phone by residents and occurs on specified dates, which our team designate in consultation with your Council. This service is co-designed, branded and implemented in collaboration with Council’s waste, sustainability and marketing teams.

SCRgroup’s educational and fundraising programs are available for primary and secondary school students. Since 2008, our programs have been helping schools, early child-hood centres and clubs raise thousands of dollars each year while reducing waste to landfill and providing global com-munities with affordable clothing and employment.

School Fundraising and Education Programs

Pop Up Drive-ThruRecycling Days

Pop Up Drive-Thru Recycling Days are usually run on a designated Saturday in a large space provided by council (usually a large car park) for residents to drive-thru and drop-off their larger unwanted items such as mattresses, furniture and other household items.

At the time of the event SCRgroup provides staff and traffic management; coordinating the whole event from start to finish.

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Where Does Everything Go?

Some of what we collect goes to charities and op shops in Australia.About 5% of what is collected meets retail quality in Australia. The clothes and homewares that stay in Australia are mainly sold to provide a source of income for charities.

The rest goes to our overseas partner for sorting and global distribution.What can’t be reused in Australia is sent to our Australian owned partner facility in Malaysia for sorting and global distribution. SCRgroup has identified markets all over the globe where there is a demand for the items we no longer want or are resaleable in Australia. For example, there is a demand for single shoes in the Middle East.

Whatever can’t be reused is either sent for recycling or converted into alternate fuels in a nearby cement kiln. Reuse is the most environmentally friendly and socially beneficial avenue in the waste hierarchy as it uses the least amount of natural resources and supports a circular economy. We are able to reuse 70% of our total collections, recycling 15% and converting 15% into alternate fuels.

As a result of our operations overseas, we are able to support 300 jobs in developing countries, helping growing economies and providing opportunities to communities living in less fortunate circumstances to earn sustainable incomes. Our partner facility provides safe and ethical working conditions and facilities, such as prayer rooms.

People in countries as diverse as Eastern Europe and Asia get the things they need.What is reusable goes to countries where low-cost clothing is in demand, enabling accessibility to essential everyday items for global communities who need them the most.

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Meet The Team

Meet the people who are working hard behind the scenes. They are passionate about what they do and will work with you to support your needs.

Image (top row, left to right): Enzo Bruscella (CEO), Karl Barabas (Client Relations), Ben Eishoei (Accounts Support), Alexis Todorovski (Marketing and School Education), Chris Todorovski (Managing Director), Tania Patti (Marketing and Business Development), Melissa Ciardulli (Client Relations) and Hristo Gorgioski (Operations).(bottom row, left to right): Oscar Yildiz JP (GM - CEO SCR Foundation), Michelle Fong (Accounts), Cathie Chisholm (Administration) and Damir Crljenkovic (Operations).

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1407Guilds traded high-quality clothes such as second-hand silk, velvets and other used goods in Florence, Italy. In Europe, feudal masters gifted their used clothing to their serfs, domestic staff and the local poor, as there were no laws stopping them from doing so.

100-500Egyptians filled Roman dolls with old textile rags.

1327-1377In medieval England, Edward III passed laws that prohibited lower-class servants from re-wearing the same clothing as their aristocratic masters. Luxurious garments were consequently resold to various companies including theatre companies.

1558-1603In the Elizabethan period, it was not unusual to see Shakespearean thespians wearing second-hand clothes to perform roles such as Romeo and Juliet.

1868-1912A vibrant trade in used silk kimonos across Japan flourished. This trade continues today as kimonos are considered objects of art, encapsulating different values in different times and places.

1939-1945During World War II, there was a shortage of supplies to manufacture civilian clothes. In 1941 “clothes rationing” was introduced and people were given 66 tokens every year to buy clothes and food. A woman’s blouse was 12 coupons. People had to be clever with clothing reuse, often repairing old clothes. The Make Do And Mend Movement was born.

1760-1840With the expansion of the Industrial Revolution, new clothing gradually became more affordable and the value of second-hand clothing shifted as it became less desirable. Giving away used clothing as charitable gifts to the less fortunate became more mainstream. Clothing was a lot easier to obtain than any other form of charity and was often traded by the poor for better clothing, food or accommodation.

1950-2000sThe rise of thrift shops provided the opportunity to lower socio-economic classes to buy second-hand clothing at affordable prices, and for new trends to emerge - such as vintage fashion. There was a shift in attitudes towards second-hand clothing and wearing it no longer indicated poverty. Clothing Drop-Off Hubs also began appearing in public spaces, to provide a 24/7 facility for dropping unwanted clothing and other small household items. In the 1980s fast fashion was born and the need for clothing reuse and recycling became even more vital.

As history demonstrates, second-hand clothing was originally treated as a commodity. Good quality clothing was expensive and hard to obtain, so it’s value in the second-hand market was high and they were often bought by theatre companies. It wasn’t until the Industrial Revolution that capitalism formalised second-hand clothing distribution as a type of charitable handout as new clothing became more accessible and affordable. Methods of distributing used clothing to its second life cycle have also evolved over time. In medieval times the rich, if not restricted by law, would hand down their clothes to their servants. In the 19th century rag-and-bone men would either walk, or travel on horse and carriage to homes collecting unwanted textiles, bones, metal and other domestic waste left on the streets. In 1851, there was an estimated 800-1000 rag-and-bone men living in lodging houses around London. White rags were considered more valuable than coloured rags and all rags had to be dry before sale. The typical rag-and-bone man could expect to earn sixpence a day. In Paris they were regulated by law and were only allowed to work at night. Rag-and-bone men would then sell the textiles to poorer households or turn them into factory rags; a recycling process that continues to this day.

Today, consumption is constantly and rapidly increasing, with each Australian throwing away 23 of the 27 kilograms of clothing they buy annually, largely due to the culture of fast fashion. There are now many more clothing reuse and recycling services available including home pickup services, clothing drop-off hubs, in-store clothing take back programs, online selling, swap markets or charity donations. Despite the myth of competing with charities, many for-profit operators work with charities to help them deal with the surplus of second-hand clothing they cannot sell in their shops. Companies like SCRgroup partner with charities such as St. Vincent de Paul, Red Cross Australia, and Save the Children by purchasing their excess stock. This provides sustainable income streams enabling the charities to continue supporting their social causes. SCRgroup then finds markets globally where a demand exists for the second-hand clothes in communities that need them the most. This keeps reusable clothing out of landfill, saves valuable resources, creates much needed jobs and supports a circular economy.

History of Clothing Reuse and Recycling

Brooks, A. (2015). Clothing Poverty. The Hidden World of Fast Fashion and Second-hand Clothes. London, UK: Zed Books Ltd.

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Our Charity Partners Our Council and Corporate Clients

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Level 3, 1-9 Moreland Road Coburg VIC 3058 Australia +61 3 9386 8702

partners@scrg.com.auscrg.com.au

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