A top image with Recycly My Gear message on it on the background of a rubbish tip.

GIVE YOUR GEAR A SECOND LIFE

Our Recycle My Gear scheme offers you the chance to give your well-loved gear a new home and keep it out of landfill. All you need to do is drop your gear at the recycling point in your nearest store.

As part of our mission to reduce our impact on the environment, we’ve partnered with The Phoenix Resource Centre to help carefully repair and sort your gear - so it can have a second life.

The Phoenix Resource Centre is a registered charity dedicated to safeguarding and conserving the environment. Their initiatives advocate for waste reduction, reclamation, and the utilisation of recycled products, in the UK and beyond.

WHAT GEAR CAN BE RECYCLED?

Before heading to our recycling points in store, please review what we can and can’t recycle.

We CAN recycle:

• All types of clothing including underwear

• Clothing accessories (hats, scarf, gloves etc)

• Waterproof & insulated jackets

• All types of footwear

• Wetsuits & swimwear

• Tents + tent poles

• Electronics incl. torches, smartwatches

• Rucksacks and bags

• Camping equipment incl. stoves (remove gas canisters)

• Sleeping bags

• Sledges, Skis and Snowboards

• Climbing equipment

We CAN’T recycle:

• Sharp objects (Knives or other objects that could be used as weapons)

• Liquids of any kind including gas canisters

• Food/perishables of any kind

• Maps and guidebooks (Take to your local charity store as they’d need to be used in this country)

HOW DOES IT WORK?

You drop off your gear into our Recycle My Gear bins located in all of our stores, and Pheonix collects it from our warehouse to sort and send straight to projects worldwide - so it can have a second life. Your gear will either be re-worn, reduced to raw material, or recycled.

Our scheme follows the environmental hierarchy: Re-use first, Re-purpose second.

If it’s wearable or repairable, it’s re-used.

Extending the lifetime of clothing and shoes to gift to organisations around the world has the most impact because:

- Wearable clothing remains in its original form for as long as possible.

- Garments get a second life without using a valuable additional resource that might impact the environment.

Did you know? When re-used, the gear you donate helps to clothe orphaned children in East Africa, and any rework goes to the Women’s Institutes of East Africa where your gear gets repaired.

If it's not wearable, it’s re-purposed.

Items that aren't wearable - or easily repaired - are divided into material types. From here, they are re-purposed through open and closed-loop recycling processes.

- Open Loop Recycling: Fibres become raw material for use in various industries; re-purposed into play equipment, as insulation, or re-purposed as dirt-catching rags.

- Closed Loop Recycling: Fibres are recycled into yarn to make new textiles in a unique textile-to-textile process. 

Did you know? East African tribes often make shelters from cloth sheeting - the material we provide from donated tents can help to make them waterproof.

FAQs

What items best support the initiative?

Textiles and fabrics – in garment form or as loose material - and any paired footwear (excluding ice skates and ski boots).

How much does it cost?

Good news! Recycling your gear in-store is completely free so you can help us work towards minimal-waste at zero cost.

Do I have to wash the garment before bringing it in?

No, but we can’t accept anything heavily soiled and ask that all products deposited are clean, dry, and not badly ripped or shredded.

What items are difficult to recycle?

We can’t accept split or splintered tent polls for safety reasons. Ripped sleeping bags, and torn feather / fibre-filled coats can be sent to our Repair and Care team.

Do you accept footwear?

Yes – any type of paired footwear can be recycled except ice skates and ski boots.

Did you know? Skis and sledges received in our Recycle My Gear scheme work well on the sand and are often put to clever use behind donkeys to transport items!

What happens to a product after it has been deposited?

Phoenix Resource Centre collects your donated gear from our UK Head Office for sorting at their UK recycling site. Here, they work with an organisation called Olympus Core to carefully grade your donations - ahead of shipping them directly to East Africa. Olympus Core is an employment scheme that creates jobs for people with additional learning needs.

Did you know? The staff at Phoenix Resource Centre UK recycling site rarely have waste that can’t be recycled - on average two black bin bags are recycled per week.

Who benefits from the donated gear?

In addition to our UK scheme, it is orphaned children, the homeless, refugees, and tribal communities across the globe who benefit from your donation. Since children remain in the orphanages until they are 21 years old and often become carers and teachers, much of your donated adult clothing is directed here.

ABOUT PHOENIX RESOURCE CENTRE

Phoenix Resource Centre's work repurposes textiles for community aid in the UK and 59 other countries with the help of NGOs and collaborators. With a focus on education, Phoenix supports schools and colleges, delivering art and education initiatives like workshops and building sensory play areas.

As well as their educational initiatives, Phoenix provides emergency relief worldwide, sending food, blankets, medical supplies, and more to those in need. Their objective is to establish long-term community relationships through resource provisions. To date, their outreach to over 1,200 organisations has helped over 1 million people in the UK.

Learn More