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Crisis at donations: Carla campaign warns of bad old dresses!
The Caritas St. Pölten starts a campaign to sensitize donors to improve the quality of old dresses.
Crisis at donations: Carla campaign warns of bad old dresses!
In recent years, the willingness to donate for second-hand clothing has changed noticeably. Many people emit no longer needed clothing to the Carlas, the second-hand shops of Caritas. However, this is increasingly causing problems. According to a current report by OTS of the donated clothing is no longer suitable for sale, and this Tendency is rising. In the eleven Carlas of the Caritas of the Diocese of St. Pölten, around 220 tons of old clothing, furniture, household items and electrical appliances are donated every year, but the quality of the textiles often leaves something to be desired.
The locations in Krems and Vitis are particularly affected, where the donation inputs include more and more dirty or damaged textiles and shoes. This makes it necessary to professionally dispose of about 30 percent of the goods donated, which causes high costs. In view of this problem, Caritas St. Pölten plans a comprehensive campaign that will be shown on social media, in cinemas and posters. The aim of this initiative is to sensitize donors and point out that they only donate portable textiles.The challenge of textile waste
The location is not only struggling locally, but also reflects a much bigger problem. The fashion industry is increasingly producing waste, and many donated old dresses end up on landfills, often in countries that do not have the corresponding recycling infrastructure. In a recent article on TextileMäutten it is pointed out that the recycling industry has difficulties to process inferior materials that are difficult to recycle. Expert Katja Wagner emphasizes the need to reform the old clothing system in order to export less goods and encourage consumers to consider old clothes as a valuable raw material.
The almost fashion trend not only tripled the amount of textiles, but also significantly reduced their quality. Consumers currently have little opportunities to ensure that their donated textiles are used responsibly. A transparent recycling approach, such as gymnastics, could be the solution here by withdrawing textiles directly from companies.
recycling and legislative responsibility
The problems on the textile market are not only noticeable in Austria, but also in Germany. According to the bvse- Bundesverband secondary raw materials and disposal is produced every year around 1.3 million tons of textile waste. The association warns of an impending collapse of the old textile collection and recycling in Germany if measures are not taken soon. With a separate collection rate of 70 percent for old clothes, it becomes clear that the infrastructure must be improved in order to cope with the increasing amounts of inferior textiles.
From January 1, 2025, an obligation to compensate for the extensive separation collection of old textiles will be introduced. In order to improve the recycling process, the BVSE calls for free parking spaces for old clothing containers and warns that the quality of the textiles collected urgently needs to be improved.
The new Caritas St. Pölten campaign could contribute to increase awareness of the quality of donations and thus improve the situation in the Carlas in the long term. The press appointment for the campaign will take place on April 7, 2025 in the Carla Krems, where representatives of Caritas will take a position and present the most important content of the campaign.