Clothing Reseller Finds Recycling Pathway
A partnership between ThredUp and Azek will recycle clothing bags to composite deck products.
Azek, the manufacturer of TimberTech decking, announced a new partnership with ThredUP, an online platform for reselling clothing. The project will transform plastic waste into outdoor living products.
ThredUP supplies its users with “clean out bags” that they fill with gently used women’s and kids’ apparel, shoes, and accessories. ThredUP then sorts, markets, and sells the clothing to new users.
Users of ThredUP’s consignment shop fill bags with gently used items.
Photo Credit: ThredUP
Through this recycling partnership, Azek will collect ThredUP’s PE plastic clean out bags after the contents have been processed by ThredUP, as well as ThredUP’s post-industrial plastic film waste, and transport them to Azek’s polyethylene recycling facility in Wilmington, Ohio. The materials will be processed and incorporated into new TimberTech decking, Azek’s composite decking line made from approximately 85% recycled material.
Azek has set a goal of processing one billion lb/yr waste by 2026, and reports having processed a total 1.7 billion since 2019. ThredUP reports its fashion consignment program has processed 137 million individual items since its founding in 2009.
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