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Recycling emporium is made to measure
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| Guiseppe Randisi |
Dwarfed by mountains of clothes, Guiseppe Randisi is giving me a tour of the warehouse at the textile company he runs with his wife Gillian.
Clothes are everywhere - jeans, jumpers, tops, skirts. And that's not all - there are handbags, shoes, rugs, and bedding, a wealth of items, most of which are in excellent condition, and - thanks to Guiseppe and Gillian - are destined for a new life.
"We have everything you can think of," says Guiseppe. "Belts, hats, scarves, underwear, all sorts."
The couple run Randisi Textile Recycling, a company specialising in the recycling of used clothing, much of which ends up in destinations in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe.
Staff at the firm hand-sort the items, which are graded depending upon their condition, and also divided by type - summer or winter clothing - before being baled by a machine. Throughout the vast warehouse, bales are neatly stacked - jeans, jumpers, light, summer clothes, clothes that are suitable for mild spring and autumn weather, and heavier winter clothing.
"It is all good quality and well-sorted," says Guiseppe. "Light clothes go to countries in Africa, heavier ones to Eastern Europe and Russia." Clothing is also sent to Pakistan and parts of Western Europe. "We aim to send as much as we can to Africa, to countries where it is most needed."
Items are not only sorted by seasonal suitability, but by the type of clothing and styles worn in different countries. "The clothes go to different parts of the warehouse - Western-style clothing is not suitable to send to Pakistan, and some styles, such as T-shirts with long sleeves, would not be worn in Africa as it is too hot."
The company, which has 30 full-time workers, buy so-called rags' - clothing left over at charity shops and collected from Bradford Council's clothes banks, based at waste sites across the district. Both are classified by the European Union as waste'.
They collect from eight clothes banks and around 30 charity shops, collecting between 300 and 500kg of clothing from each shop. "We travel as far as Manchester to collect," says Guiseppe. Each week, between 60 and 70 tonnes of clothing and other textile products are brought back to the warehouse.
The goods are then sorted, packaged and sold on. Ninety-seven per cent of items collected by the company are recycled. "That means that only three per cent goes to landfill - items like odd shoes, socks or clothing that cannot be sold on," says Guiseppe. "This is great for the environment."
Cotton items left over after sorting are sold to a firm which cuts them into industrial wiping cloths to be used primarily within the motor industry. Remainders are also used for flock - very short-cut material used to produce a velvet-like coating on cloth, rubber, film or paper. Wool-based items that remain at the warehouse are also sold as flock.
"They go to local bedding firms who use it in the production of mattresses," says Guiseppe. "Meaning virtually everything that comes to us is recycled."
The morning of my visit, Nigerian Chubby Uche is at the Leeds Road site, overseeing a shipment of clothing to countries in West and Central Africa. "They are going to Ghana, Togo, Benin and Equatorial Guinea," he says. "I come over quite often and send back lots of different items."
It costs £2,200 to send a container to West Africa, with 450 bales inside.
Guiseppe got a good grounding in the clothing trade while growing up on the Mediterranean island of Sicily.
"My parents became involved after the Second World War, selling second-hand clothes from the USA. They bought clothing imported directly from America and sold them in Sicily. My brothers-in-law became involved too - it was a real family concern."
He met Gillian in Sicily, where she was staying with her Sicilian brother-in-law, and the couple set up a business. In 1996 they moved to England.
"I came to do a different type of job, but became involved in second-hand clothing again," says Guiseppe.
Initially, they set up their business in Leeds with just a handful of staff before moving to Mulgrave Street, off Leeds Road, Bradford.
Guiseppe, stresses that the firm - which is a member of the national Textile Recycling Association, which represents the interests of the industry - is a commercial business and faces challenging times.
"The cost of the clothing is increasing and there is such a lot of competition, particularly from people selling to Eastern Europe," he says. "It is becoming harder to find raw material to send - there is a big demand."
Other issues which those within the business are eager to overcome include doorstep collections by bogus charities, who sell unsorted goods abroad, and operators with little overheads overcutting the prices paid to collect.
These matters were among a number raised at the second meeting of the Sustainable Clothing Roadmap group, organised by Defra and attended by 200 delegates. Many would like to see a code of conduct or kite mark to which bona fide collectors could sign up.
Guiseppe, who sits on the executive committee of the Textile Recycling Association, and Gillian, are proud of what they have achieved at the family firm.
"We are recycling, we are creating jobs, and keeping waste out of landfill," says Guiseppe.
To donate clothing or find out more about Randisi Textile Recycling contact them on (01274) 309111
8:26am Wednesday 30th April 2008
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