Recently, the German media outlet wochenklick.de published a letter from reader Susanne Flamm of Heroldsberg, about the pile of clothes casually left in front of used-clothing recycling bins.

In her letter, she described seeing a "mountain of clothes" beside two local used-clothing recycling bins. She surmised that the donors who left the clothes meant well—feeling that these clothes and shoes were still intact and that passersby could pick out what fit them. But the reality is that these clothes, in good condition, get no protection in the open air, lying there for days or even weeks, exposed to wind and rain, with animals defecating on them, until they finally become unusable and have only one fate left: garbage.

Flamm therefore called for clothes to be put into the recycling bins. In her letter, she asked whether donors thought these items were too good to be sent to the shredder.

Her suggestion is to take such well-preserved clothing to the circular Kaufhaus (Kreislaufkaufhaus) in Eckental, or to other second-hand shops such as the Red Cross—where these clothes can still be happily bought at low prices by people who truly need them.

For the used-clothing industry, the problem this letter points out is nothing new: the first checkpoint of used-clothing recycling is actually at the drop-off stage. Clothes piled in the open not only lose their resale and reuse value, but also drag down downstream sorting, turning supply that could have entered second-hand circulation channels directly into waste.

Source: Leserbrief: Altkleider – so leider nur noch Müll · Originally published on 2026-09-16