Donating old clothes is a good thing, but at the recycling bin you often hit an awkward problem first: the bin is full — can you still leave your bag beside it? The German recycling industry's answer is clear: no. That counts as illegal dumping, you can be held liable, and you face an average fine of around €35, depending on the federal state and local regulations.

German charity Malteser (the Order of Malta) especially warns against doing this: bags left outside the bin get rained on and dirty, the clothes lose their usable value, and they may even be taken by passersby. The right approach is to take your donation home, go to another collection point, or come back another time.

Why are recycling bins permanently overflowing? There are two reasons. The first is fast fashion: people buy more and more and discard faster and faster. According to Greenpeace data, one third of purchased clothing is never worn. A lot of this cheap clothing ends up in old-clothes donations, but it is poorly made and quickly falls apart, filling the bins and crowding out better-quality textiles.

The second reason is the chain reaction caused by policy. Since the start of 2025, an EU-wide obligation to collect textiles separately has been in force, so old clothes can no longer simply be thrown into household waste; the aim is to increase recycling and reuse. But many consumers mistakenly think that "all textiles" belong in the old-clothes bin — including torn, heavily soiled, or soaked clothing. In fact, damaged clothing should still be treated as household waste, because recycling systems for mixed fibers are not yet mature, and processing is costly and complex. According to Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), currently only 1% of new clothing material comes from old textiles. As a result, unsuitable old clothes flood the bins and put even more strain on the system. In addition, some people deliberately dump other waste at old-clothes collection points, making the problem worse.

The consequences of careless dumping are becoming visible. A considerable share of the cost of clearing waste and bags is paid for by taxpayers; and if a collection point is long treated as a dump, it may be permanently disqualified. The German Red Cross (DRK) in the Städteregion Aachen removed all 45 of its old-clothes recycling bins in 2025 because the costs of dealing with waste and unusable textiles had become unbearable. Recyclingbörse Herford also temporarily stopped accepting everything at one point: the pile of bags reached about 10,000, and sorting staff simply could not keep up. According to observations by the Aachen Red Cross, recycling organizations have noticed littering for four or five years, and the new EU rules have made the situation worse.

For donors, there is also the question of distinguishing genuine from fake. To make sure clothes really reach people in need, it is best to choose charities or churches; bins bearing the FairWertung or bvse (German Federal Association for Secondary Raw Materials and Disposal) quality seal for old textile collection can be regarded as more reliable collectors.

Source: Wenn der Altkleidercontainer mal wieder voll ist: Dieser Fehler kann teuer werden · Originally published 2026-09-24