Salem Recycling Drive Collects More Than 10K Pounds Of Textiles

SALEM, MA — More than 200 Salem residents combined to recycle more than five tons of clothing and other household items as part of the Salem Recycles event held May 1.

Working with HELPSY — the largest clothing recycle collector in the Northeast — Salem Recycles said it collected more than 10,000 pounds of textiles and other items that would have typically gone to a landful.

Salem Recycles said hundreds of residents participated in the event at Riley Plaza.

"HELPSY is dedicated to change the way people think about clothing recycling while adhering to the highest level of social and environmental performance," said Dan Greene, CEO and Co-Founder of HELPSY.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 81 pounds of clothing gets thrown away by the average person every year. Of that amount, 95 percent can be recycled.

Through a combination of clothing drives, collection bins, thrift store partners and curbside pickups, HELPSY diverts nearly 30 million pounds of textiles from landfills every year.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)