Old clothes in Tyrol

“Throwing in the garbage can should always be carefully considered”

(Bild: Land Tirol/Knabl)

3000 tons of old clothes are collected in Tyrol every year: It's an "important contribution to sustainability", says Climate Protection LR René Zumtobel (SPÖ). There is a particular focus on the yellow collection containers.

Many people in Tyrol know and use them: The bright yellow collection containers for used textiles from the Wams association. A total of 315 collection containers at 250 locations are currently available in the districts of Innsbruck-Stadt, Innsbruck-Land, Schwaz, Kitzbühel and Kufstein. This makes Wams the largest socio-economic organization dedicated to the collection and reuse of textiles in Tyrol.

(Bild: Land Tirol/Knabl)

Around 3000 tons of old textiles are collected every year. "Employees of the association regularly collect the clothing and take it to the sorting center in Innsbruck. There, each item is inspected by hand. Clothing in good condition is either passed on to social institutions free of charge, resold in the association's second-hand stores or passed on to second-hand stores in other countries," report Wams managing directors Christian Kammeringer and Christine Regensburger. "In this way, the textiles remain in the cycle of use - a significant contribution to conserving resources," emphasized Climate Protection Commissioner René Zumtobel. Throwing clothes in the bin should only be the last option.