WHAT do you do with your old, unwanted clothes and shoes?

Maybe you’d like to recycle them – but how can you do that when you can’t put them in your blue recycling bin?

Answer: take them to one of Fenland District Council’s textile and shoe banks.

On average, each person in Fenland throws away about 7kg of clothes and shoes every year. That’s an annual pile of 600 tonnes going straight into landfill when it could be re-used or recycled.

FDC now has a network of 25 textile and shoe banks spread around the district. Saleable clothes and shoes are sold to developing countries by the contractor. Some of the income from this goes to the council to help pay for vital services.

Councillor Peter Murphy, FDC’s portfolio holder responsible for the environment, said: “Much of the clothing and shoes that we throw away could be worn again.

“There are already charity shops in our market towns that can take clothes, but these new textile banks will make it much easier for people to recycle them, particularly those who live out in the villages.

“Using them will also benefit the environment. Making clothes uses up to 10 times more energy than producing steel or glass, and cotton production uses a huge amount of water, so recycling your old clothes and shoes in one of the new banks helps save energy and water, too.

“Also, the money we get for recycled material provides very valuable income for the council to go towards other recycling initiatives.”

Of Fenland’s 25 textile banks, seven are in March, three in Wisbech and Whittlesey, two in Chatteris and one in Benwick, Christchurch, Coates, Doddington, Guyhirn, Manea, Parson Drove, Tydd St Giles, Wimblington and Wisbech St Mary.

For details of all local bring banks, visit www.recyclenow.com