The outdoor clothing recycling banks at the Morrisons store in Basingstoke, UK, have been removed. The supermarket cited persistent antisocial behaviour—vandalism, theft and fly-tipping—rather than overflowing clothes as the reason for removing the banks, which collected donations for the Morrisons Foundation and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance.

Key Points

  • Morrisons has removed donation clothing banks from the Basingstoke store car park; the banks had raised funds for the Morrisons Foundation and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance.
  • A Morrisons spokesperson said the supermarket and its recycling partner spent weeks trying anti-fly-tipping measures, increasing collection frequency, monitoring bank capacity and looking for alternative sites, but none stopped the persistent antisocial behaviour.
  • Oxfam banks at the Sainsbury's store car park in nearby Kempshott have also suffered from overflow problems.

A Morrisons spokesperson explained that the store and its recycling partner had worked together for weeks to try to mitigate the impact by installing anti-fly-tipping devices, increasing the frequency of collections from the banks, closely monitoring bank capacity and looking for other on-site locations. However, the persistent antisocial behaviour ultimately forced the supermarket to remove the Morrisons Foundation's outdoor clothing banks. The supermarket said it hopes to reintroduce donation services in the near future through secure recycling points inside the store.

Similar problems have occurred at other supermarkets in Basingstoke. At the Sainsbury's store car park in Kempshott, Oxfam banks have also been overflowing. An Oxfam spokesperson said the organisation is very grateful for donations but asked people not to leave items outside the banks when they are full, as the clothes may be damaged by weather or animals.

The spokesperson also noted that textile banks raise thousands of pounds for Oxfam's work fighting global poverty, but damaged items may not be able to be reused or recycled. Fly-tipping is a long-standing problem, and Oxfam has seen an increase in such incidents at its banks, with clearing these items costing the charity money.

This incident reflects that even in a market with stable recycling demand, the operation of outdoor clothing recycling points faces real costs from theft, vandalism and fly-tipping, and the value of recycling banks ultimately depends on items being delivered and collected safely and in compliance with regulations.

Source: Morrisons to remove donation bins after repeated fly-tipping, vandalism and theft · Originally published 2026-09-28