Greenburgh To Hold Hearing Wednesday On Proposed Clothing Bin Law

GREENBURGH, NY — The Greenburgh Town Board will hold a public hearing Wednesday on a new law to help residents who drop off used clothing at donation bins around town know what will happen to it.

Many people who drop off used clothing at these bins incorrectly think that the clothing will be given to the poor — when in fact the items will be shredded, town officials said. Others may not be aware that some donation bins belong to for-profit businesses that shred the clothing.

"Speaking personally, in the past I have cleaned used clothing before dropping it in the bins feeling good about helping others — only to realize later on that the clothing would not be helping those who need it," Town Supervisor Paul Feiner said. "In the future, when I drop off used clothing I’d like to donate to a nonprofit that would give the clothing to someone who will benefit from it."

The town council members want transparency for those who donate the clothing. The legislative findings section of the proposed law reads: "The Town Board of the Town of Greenburgh finds it in the best interest of the Town to adopt a local law which would require that donation bins identify information about the proposed use of donations received and regulate donation bins in accordance with General Business Law §399-bbb. The Town Board finds that residents are easily misled to think that clothing dropped in an unmarked bin is going to charity when, in fact, that is not the case, and oftentimes, bins are set up by for-profit enterprises that take the discarded clothing and resell it or shred it and sell it for profit. The purpose of this chapter is to provide transparency to the residents regarding their gifts of clothing to charity."

Input and suggestions from residents are welcome, Feiner said.

WHERE: 177 Hillside Ave. , Greenburgh, NY 10607

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 10, 2024

See the full agenda here.

According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, textile waste is one of the fastest growing waste streams with the average American throwing away 81 lbs of clothing each year. In total, New York State residents and businesses alone throw away almost 1.4 billion pounds of textiles, including: clothing, footwear, belts, hats, handbags, drapes, towels, sheets and other linens that could be reused or recycled annually, the DEC said.

The DEC said only 15 percent of post-consumer textiles are recycled.

However, nearly 100 percent of donated textiles are reused and recycled:

• 45% are reused as clothing
• 20% are recycled into fibers
• 30% are reused as wiping cloths

The State of New York passed a law in 2016 to combat the proliferation of clothing collection bins provided by fake charities by imposing stricter regulations on the placement, maintenance and transparency of collection bins across the state.