Give a Sheet | Adelaide-wide linen drive, 25 May

Green Industries SA and Australian textile recycling company BlockTexx are partnering with 8 Adelaide metropolitan councils and waste transfer stations to help Adelaide residents recycle their old, worn-out linens. All material collected on the day will be recycled through BlockTexx via a chemical recycling process which separates polyester from cotton, and then re-manufacturers the fibres back into high grade raw materials to be used by other Australian industries.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I drop off my unwanted linen?

Eight drop-off sites across Adelaide will be open Saturday 25 May, from 9 am to 3 pm:

Adelaide CBD

  • City of Adelaide, Torrens Parade Ground
     Victoria Drive, Adelaide, SA, 5000

Adelaide Hills

  • Adelaide Hills Council, Southern Works Depot
     32 Scott Creek Road (entry via Kiln Rd), Heathfield

North 

  • City of Port Adelaide Enfield, CAWRA
     25 Mill Court (entry via Grand Junction Road), Kilburn
  • City of Charles Sturt, Beverley Recycling and Waste Centre
     2-6 Toogood Ave, Beverley
  • City of Salisbury, The Paddocks Precinct
     Corner of Bridge and Kesters Road (entry via Bridge Rd, Para Hills Bowling Club entrance), Para Hills

South 

  • City of Onkaparinga, Field Operations Centre
     Lot 10 Railway Rd, Seaford Meadows 

East

  • City of Burnside, Burnside Civic Centre carpark
     401 Greenhill Rd, Tusmore 

West

  • West Torrens City Council, Adelaide Waste and Recycling Centre
     181 Morphett Road, North Plympton

View the map to find your nearest drop-off point.

What types of linen will be accepted at the drop-off sites?

All types of pure and blended polyester and cotton linen can be dropped off at any of the 8 event sites.

Types of linen accepted include:

  • bathroom linen, including:
    • face cloths
    • hand towels
    • bath towels and sheets
  • bed linen, including: 
    • bed sheets (flat and fitted)
    • quilt and doona covers
    • pillow cases 
    • bedspreads
  • kitchen linen, including: 
    • tea towels
    • napkins
    • table cloths.

What types of linen and textiles won’t be accepted?

Items that will not be accepted include:

  • clothing and footwear
  • doonas and pillows
  • mattresses and mattress protectors
  • wool blankets
  • bath mats with a backing
  • microfibre or any kind of dish or cleaning wipes/cloths.

A general rule to follow is ‘no items with fluffy fillings’.

Does the linen have to be clean?

Yes, the linen must be clean for collection. Linen used as a paint drop sheet will be accepted if cleaned after use.

Can the linen have tears/rips?

Yes, linen that has been torn or damaged will be accepted.

Why run an event just for textile (linen) waste?

Textile waste is an environmental issue of global significance, and is identified as a problematic waste in South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2020-25.

Australians are the second highest consumers of textiles globally. Of the 27kg of new clothing and textiles bought per person per year, 85% is disposed of in landfill.

Textile manufacturing has more than doubled between 2000 and 2015, leading to a large influx of used textiles into the waste sector.

Textile manufacturing is extremely resource intensive. The UN Environment Programme estimates that the fashion industry is responsible for 20% of global wastewater and 10% of global carbon emissions.

Textile waste cannot be recycled via council kerbside bins. A significant amount of textiles donated to charity shops (approximately 50%) are unfit for resale, creating sorting issues for the charity and ending up in landfill. 

Why can I only drop off linen?

The Give a Sheet events are only for polyester and cotton linen items.

Textiles like clothing, quilts and blankets are made from many different materials and polymers. The percentage of these materials and the mix of materials interferes with the chemical recycling process.

This drop-off day is the first trial of this scale in South Australia. 

There will likely be other trials in the future but this first trial is to see how much desire the public have to drop off unwanted textiles, and secondly to trial various models about how best to collect and recycle this material.

What can I do with other types of unwanted textiles?

Textiles that are of good enough quality and condition to be re-sold can be donated to charitable recycling stores. To find your nearest store for donations, visit the Which Bin? website.

But your local op shop doesn’t want to receive items that are not in good enough condition to be re-sold. If your unwanted non-linen textiles are past reuse, they should be placed in your landfill bin.

Where does the collected linen go?

Collected linen is first taken to Bedford SA, SA’s largest employer for people with a disability, to be sorted and decommissioned. After all buttons, zips and other non-recyclable items have been removed, the linen is transported in trucks to be shredded and then delivered to BlockTexx's state-of-the-art facility in Loganholme, Queensland for recycling.

What happens to the collected linen?

Once the decommissioned linen arrives at the BlockTexx facility in Queensland, it will be broken down into new high-grade recycled materials that can be used by Australian manufacturers to create a range of new products used in construction and agriculture.

BlockTexx is the first facility in the world to recycle polyester/cotton blend textiles on a commercial scale.

BlockTexx's S.O.F.T. process (separation of fibre technology) allows for the recovery of polyester that is then re-manufactured back into rPET pellets (PolyTexx®), which is its original form, Polyethylene terephthalate (PET). 

Recovered  rPET (PolyTexx®) can then be used to create new textiles, plastic products such as shopping bags, and building infrastructure materials. Recovered cotton is remanufactured into cellulose clay (CellTexx®) which can be used by the agricultural, textile, and building and construction sectors.

BlockTexx has also partnered with Vital Chemicals, an Australian manufacturer of erosion control and regrowth products. BlockTexx’s recovered cellulose (CellTexx®) is sprayed onto large-scale infrastructure sites to stabilise soil and replant broadacre development zones.

What about the emissions associated with transporting the linen to Queensland?

Textile manufacturing is an incredibly energy intense process. Life cycle analysis has estimates that for every 1 tonne of textiles BlockTexx recycle, 30 tonnes of carbon emissions are saved.

A diesel truck transporting approximately 3 tonnes of textiles to Queensland from Adelaide will emit 0.7tonnes – less than 1% of the emission saved from recycling the linen transported.

How is the linen drive being funded?

The South Australian Government, through Green Industries SA (GISA) will fund the promotion, collection, decommissioning and chemical recycling of all materials collected.

Host councils are partnering with GISA, and will be providing of the event site, traffic management and council event staff costs.

Who can I contact for more information?

For more information on the Adelaide-wide Give a Sheet events, please contact the Which Bin hotline on 1300 137 118.

With thanks to our partnering councils