Odette Cavill:
The Business of Recycling - Early morning and the charity donation bins have already been ransacked over night by looters. Left in the rain and now mostly rubbish, the remains are taken away to the tip as landfill at great cost to the Charities and the
Odette Cavill:
The Business of Recycling - Charities receive hundreds of thousands of tonnes of donated clothing & textiles per year. They retain less than 10% for sale in their thrift shops for fundraising.
Odette Cavill:
The Business of Recycling - Two thirds of textile waste is discarded as landfill . It has become the fastest growing component in the household waste stream.
Odette Cavill:
The Business of Recycling - The donated clothing, now cut rag, has already created a substantial carbon footprint having completed the round sea voyage from West Australia to Malaysia and back covering more than 6,000 kms. Here it’s being double-check
Odette Cavill:
The Business of Recycling - The warehouse supervisor is preparing already cut rags for further export. This rag has so far traveled over 6,000km since it’s initial donation to charity.
Odette Cavill:
The Business of Recycling - West Australia > Malaysia > West Australia. After completing a sea journey of over 6,000km, this cut rag has been weighed and re-bagged in Australia then wrapped in plastic for on-sale.
Odette Cavill:
The Business of Recycling - Recently donated clothing, bailed into 165kg blocks and ready for loading in to a sea container for the 3,000km journey to Malaysia for sorting and cutting in to rag. The warehouse supervisor takes a moment for morning tea.
Odette Cavill:
The Business of Recycling - Loading the container with bailed charity donations for the initial 3,000km trip to Malaysia for processing.
Odette Cavill:
The Business of Recycling - Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of donated clothing is shipped overseas each year for sorting into rag and by-product. At what cost is the carbon footprint where a kilo of zippers or buttons can be sold for less than 5 cents
Odette Cavill:
The Business of Recycling - These containers represent what Australia sends to Malaysia yearly for processing where 25% is on-shipped to Africa as recycled clothing, and the remainder cut into rag and distributed globally.