The 3R Program Recycling at Northern Illinois University www.niu.edu NIU Calendar Campus Maps
Northern Illinois University
NIU Phone Book A-Z Index NIU Search


To contact us:
Phone:
815-753-0352
Fax:
815-753-6290

3R Program Physical Plant Northern Illinois University DeKalb, IL 60115

Textile Facts
Textile Factory
Textile workers
Laundry Basket
Women dresses
Textile Facts


  • Although the 3R Program does not have a textile collection, most clothes and materials can be donated.  Check the residence halls for collection boxes or take them to the Salvation Army store.  Donations are accepted at the store on Sycamore Road.
  • Post-consumer textile product waste in the U.S. annually comprises about 4.5% of the residential waste stream, which transplants into approximately 35 pounds per person, totaling 8.75 billion pounds.
  • The textile recycling industry, with some 350 members around the world, remove annually form the waste stream 2.5 billion pounds of post-consumer textile product waste.
  • The 2.5 billion pounds of post consumer textile waste represents 10 pounds for every person in the U.S. Of this amount, approximately 500 million pounds are used by the collecting agency, with the balance sold to textile recyclers, including used clothing dealers and exporters, wiping rag graders, and fiber recycles.
  • Textile recycling firms purchase a large percentage of their raw material from charitable institutions, who in turn use these funds to house, feed, and train the less fortunate.
  • Textile industry members are able to recycle 93% of the waste they process- without producing any new hazardous waste or harmful by-products.
  • Textile recyclers export 61% of their products, thus reducing the U.S. trade deficit.
  • A cloth diaper can be used 80 to 200 times.  When it finally gets to the landfill (if it hasn't been reused as a cleaning rag), it only takes 6 months to decompose.
  • Wool can be recycled!  It has long fibers which can be pulled apart and rewoven.
  • Nike and the Women's National Basketball Association teamed up to recycle used athletic shoes.  The program is called Reuse-A-Shoe, and has collected more than 1.5 millions pairs of shoes.
  • Nearly one-half of the clothes Americans wear are made of synthetic fibers.  That means that they are produced from oil.
  • Many natural fibers like cotton are often produced with the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers.  Making them has already had an effect on the Earth.  We should try to use them as long as possible before discarding them.
  • Second-hand clothes are important!  Donating them will get them sent to provide clothes for disaster victims, homeless, or Third World citizens.  In 1988, America exported 135,000 tons of used clothing to Third World countries!