Agneta Lantto-Forsgren, head of waste in Skellefteå municipality. Archive photo.
Since 1 January 2025 all textiles are to be recycled for reuse if they are intact or to be destroyed if they are ripped. However, the municipality has now announced that it does currently not accept more textiles due to way too big volumes.
The recycled textiles are collected by an aid organisation that has a contract with the municipality. But the large amounts of waste that is received is way too much to deal with and that is why the municipality asks residents not to hand in more textiles over summer.
– It is simply an overload on the capacity that has led to this. Way too much textile waste is coming in and it is difficult to manage everything, says Agneta Lantto Forsgren, head of operations for waste in the Skellefteå.
This in turn leads to great pressure on the second hand stores in Skellefteå, which people turn to in order to get rid of textiles. They receive bags of unsorted clothes, both clean and intact as well as torn and dirty.
– There has been an extremely high pressure. It’s been a tough spring on and off, says Elisabet Åström, store manager at PMU Second Hand.
Agneta Lantto Forsgren says that the problem is expected to remain over summer and asks people to wait handing in textiles. Norran has contacted the aid organisation that manages the collection but they have not got back to us.