Irish charities processed 1m bin bags of clothing not fit for sale in 2025

Ireland generates almost double the European average of unwanted clothing and textile waste per head according to a new Government-commissioned report.

The Natex 2.0 report found that Ireland generated 31kg of unwanted clothing and textile wasteper head compared with the European average of 16kg. It was commissioned by the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment.

Charity Retail Ireland (CRI), an all island representative body for charities who have retail operations that raise funds for their causes, said the level of waste is a “growing area of concern”.

It said its members processed more than 11 tonnes of unsold textiles in 2025, equivalent to one million bin bags of clothing which are not fit for sale.

Its 40 members range from large national charities to local, community-based organisations.

On Wednesday, CRI published its annual Impact Report which found that across the organisation’s 407 shops, a total of €73 million in income was generated in 2025 for causes.

Last year, over 10 million items of clothing were given a second life through CRI’s member shops, according to the report, “demonstrating how this sector can help to accelerate the transition to a circular economy”.

The resale process prevented over 106,000 tonnes of carbon emissions and diverted 21 tonnes of waste from landfill and other waste areas, it said.

CRI said this is comparable to removing 17 million cars from the road for a day, saving 33 billion litres of water or the carbon that 4.8 billion trees could absorb in one day.

The report also found that in 2025, over 10 million customer transactions were recorded by it members, “which demonstrates the popularity of the charity shopping nationwide”.

It added that local stores across the country were run by 5,000 volunteers, 800 full and part-time employees and 1,000 workers across CE and Tús community employment programmes.

Despite these findings, CRI said the sector is “under pressure, with rising operational costs and unmanageable volumes of poor-quality donations being reported”.

Charity retail shops and donation banks process about 18 per cent of Ireland’s waste textiles, “a resource-intensive process that detracts efforts from the causes charitable organisations were established to support,” the representative body said.

Mark Sweeney, Chair of Charity Retail Ireland said, “for decades, the sector has shown what a practical circular economy looks like, delivering real social, economic and environmental value. These findings demonstrate just how much charity retail contributes across people, planet and prosperity.

“While the value created by the sector is clear, there is still more we can do, and the right support is essential to help charity retail reach its full potential,” he said.

“Charity Retail Ireland will continue to champion the sector, work with policymakers to secure the supports it needs, and make sure the contribution charity retail makes to communities, charities and the environment is recognised and strengthened.”