Clothes in Good Condition
Recyclable?
Blue Bins & Chutes
Other Recycling
Recommended
Specialised Recycling
Regardless of condition, you can drop your clothes off in these bins.
Note: this isn't the BEST way to get value out of your clothes, but it is the easiest and the answer most people want. If you are willing to put in a bit more effort to give your clothes a second life, please see the the recommendations below.
Cloop Life Line Bins
Zara
Alternative
Specialised Recycling
Uniqlo will take back used Uniqlo clothes.
We do not tend to recommend in-store recycling programmes however this one is doing good work within the community.
Uniqlo Recycling Bins
Alternative
Buy or Sell
We love swap shops and swap events which enable a circular economy for clothes.
These organisation really walk the talk when it comes to working towards reducing fashion waste. Under swap schemes, you can get points toward getting other clothing items or if you prefer you can do a direct donation.
Cloop Open Wardrobe
The Fashion Pulpit
Alternative
Charitable Donation
While many thrift shops do not take clothes due to oversupply, there are still selected charities that will take clothes in good condition.
Please be sure to find out each charities needs and don't anyhow dump your old clothes on them! They may only take donations at certain times of the year or during donation drives.
New2U
2nd Hand Clothing Stores
Share Your Spare
Minds Shop
Red Cross Shops
Its Raining Raincoats
The Barn
Metta Welfare Association
Giving & Taking Free Stuff
Alternative
Freecycle / Give Away
Freecycling is a great way to pass on your old clothes person-to-person.
Do it through online apps or bring a bag of your old clothes down to the next Free Market
Singapore Really Really Free Market
Online Freecycle Groups
Olio
Carousell
Alternative
Freecycle / Give Away
Clothes in good condition passed on to donation drives or textile dealers are typically sold to 2nd hand clothing wholesalers who in turn sell them to markets around the region or even further.
Donated clothes in bad condition are usually incinerated.
There is not a lot of transparency around what happens to clothes donated through these channels.
Door to Door Recycling Drives
Greensquare
Info & Insights
Mostly clothes do not get recycled "per se" - as in they are not torn down to be made into new clothes. A lot of what is described as textile recycling is in fact reselling.
Recycling as Marketing Tactic
A lot of clothing stores have clothes “recycling” bins whereby you can bring your clothes. Due to the lack of transparency around such programmes, we mostly do not recommend using these bins. Many of these schemes seem to just be a marketing tactic to get customers back into their stores with the incentive of discount vouchers for future purchases.
Why not The Salvation Army?
Be aware that The Salvation Army gets far more clothes donations than it can deal with. This is not their fault. Likewise clothes put into their overflowing bins sometimes suffer water damage.
Because they are treated as such a dumping ground by the public, and because we have no transparency about the fate of such clothes, we do not recommend them for clothing donation.
It is better to donate your loved items to smaller charities and ideally to charities that deal directly with beneficiaries or to organisation that are transparent about how they handle donations.
Festive Clothing
The advice above apples to all types of clothing including clothing for festive occasions like Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, etc.
