Instead of shipping the old clothes abroad, the Hamburg-based start-up relies on regional solutions.
Awareness of the drastic impact of the fast-fashion industry is growing. After the Hamburg-based impact start-up recyclehero has already been successfully active in Hamburg for two years and also launched in Cologne in May of this year, the right time has now come to expand the up-and-coming used clothing pick-up service to Frankfurt as well. The vision of recyclehero is ambitious: to give as many old clothes as possible in Frankfurt a second chance. To this end, the start-up has been offering a free pick-up service for old clothes in Frankfurt since this month, using environmentally friendly e-load bikes.
In many households, unused textiles are stored in attics, basements or deep in the closet. They are waiting to be finally cleaned out. But then the question arises: where to put the old clothes? Container solutions are often problematic because their backgrounds are not transparent and the clothes inside are often heavily soiled or damaged. For this reason, recyclehero has launched its free pick-up service for old clothes, which is available to both private households and businesses.
The idea of recyclehero may sound daring and a little crazy: Pick up old textiles for free by cargo bike at front doors and businesses. If it were so easily profitable, large textile recyclers would surely have already taken on this task. But for the young Hamburg start-up, it's about more than just profit.
"Naturally, we could sell the collected old clothes abroad for a few hundred euros per ton, but that doesn't correspond to our mission," explains co-founder Nadine Herbrich. "Instead, we try to recycle the textiles as regionally as possible and to tackle the social problem behind it together with partners."
The problem behind the mountains of old clothes is complex. On the one hand, there is simply too much being produced, with major fashion chains effortlessly launching 24 collections a year. It's a fair question to ask: Who is going to wear all this clothing? Stores are packed, and hardly anyone thinks about the resources needed to produce the garments. Companies have been repeatedly criticized for destroying unsold new goods. But most of the time, such actions go without consequence. It is time for both companies and consumers to rethink. In a world where resources are becoming increasingly scarce, we need to stop wasting them senselessly.
The mission of recyclehero is to keep old clothes in the local cycle with the help of resident companies, instead of transporting them at great expense across Europe or even worldwide. "Our goal is to keep good quality clothing in use and in the local cycle for as long as possible," explains Alessandro Cocco, co-founder of recyclehero.
In Hamburg, recyclehero has already successfully established a local used clothing cycle. The collected old clothes are passed on to the family-run second-hand store "2nd Fit". What is not sold there goes to the Hanseatic Help e.V. association and other social organizations as needed. recyclehero collects old clothes from both private households and businesses. Office collection campaigns, which remain popular, were launched earlier this year. In addition, there are partnerships with retailers who have set up collection points for old clothes and regularly provide larger quantities for collection.
Also in Frankfurt, recyclehero wants to offer companies the opportunity to pass on old clothes in a meaningful way, as well as promote office collection campaigns and possible collection point cooperations with retailers. For this the start-up cooperates with the Frankfurt load wheel logistics enterprise "Sachen auf Rädern". Klaus Grund, CEO of "Sachen auf Rädern", is excited about the partnership and emphasizes that their e-load bikes are the perfect support for recyclehero to fulfill its mission and bring old clothes back into the local cycle to put Frankfurt on the path to a sustainable future.
Recyclehero has already started initial discussions with local textile partners, including thrift stores and upcycling and downcycling companies, as well as social organizations in Frankfurt, to implement this successful concept.
Another strong partnership was announced between recyclehero and the secondhand store "Outflip" in Frankfurt Bornheim. The collected clothing in Frankfurt will be passed on by recyclehero and "Sachen auf Rädern" to Outflip, where it will be reused. Owner Andrea Pöschl has operated her store since 1990 and works with other thrift stores to create local resale opportunities. In addition, she supports refugee families in her community of Echzell, so that the clothing is also reused there in a meaningful way. Through this strong partnership, a local old-clothes recycling process is also being established in Frankfurt.
