The City of Greater Bendigo is holding a BlockTexx linen recycling day from 10am to 2pm, Saturday September 10 at the Bendigo Stadium carpark, Inglis Street, West Bendigo.

City of Greater Bendigo Resource Recovery and Education Manager Brooke Pearce said the City is calling on residents to “give a sheet for the planet” by donating their old linen on the day.

“All worn out sheets, pillow cases, quilt covers, linen and towels donated on the day will be recycled into valuable high-grade materials that can be used by Australian manufacturers to create new products,” Ms Pearce said.

“This is important because global textile waste is predicted to hit 140 million tonnes by 2030 and every year in Australia, one million tonnes of unwanted textiles end up in landfill.

“We are asking residents to clean out their linen closets and bring any unwanted linen along to the Bendigo Stadium car park on Saturday September 10 between 10am and 2pm.”

BlockTexx established by Adrian Jones and Graham Ross is a clean technology business which gives new life to unwanted textiles and clothing, while providing valuable resources for sectors such as manufacturing, construction, and agriculture.

BlockTexx co-founder Adrian Jones said he was proud to work with the City of Greater Bendigo to provide a new and innovative solution for tackling Greater Bendigo’s textile waste.

“It’s wonderful to see the City of Greater Bendigo taking such meaningful steps to address our textile waste problem, and we’re proud to play a part in diverting tonnes of old sheets and linen away from landfill.

“All of the textiles collected will be converted into valuable, high-grade materials that can be used by Australian manufacturers to create new products. They won’t be going into landfill or exported overseas.

“If we reach our target of collecting a truck load of linen, we will have diverted 10 tonnes of textile waste from landfill and will have removed carbon emissions equivalent to taking 65 cars off the road for a year*.

“In setting up this collection opportunity, Greater Bendigo is leading the way in providing new and smart onshore recycling solutions for textile waste, and we really hope to see more of these events happening around the nation.”

*EPA figures state the average family car emits 4.6 tonnes per year of CO2e. BlockTexx offsets 30 tonnes of CO2e for every tonne of textile waste processed – the equivalent to 6.5 average family cars.