Cecil County Recycling Program Supports Women in Need through Partnership with The Bra Recyclers

Nov. 7, 2011 - PRLog -- The Cecil County Recycling Program is now collecting gently used and new bras for women in need. Bras collected through the county’s new initiative will be distributed locally to the Cecil County Domestic Violence Center, as well as globally through The Bra Recyclers, a textile recycling company based in Gilbert, AZ.

Chief Pete Bieniek and Director of Public Works, Scott Flanigan discovered The Bra Recyclers via a feature in Waste and Recycling News, an industry magazine. They asked Recycling Coordinator Tanya Adams to research and implement the program. Launching the program alongside existing recycling initiatives, Adams notes that the new bra recycling program has an important mission: “to recycle a product that can be brought back to the community to help women in need”.

For The Bra Recyclers CEO, Elaine Birks-Mitchell, the benefits of bra recycling are both social and environmental. “The simple act of recycling bras offers women everywhere a unique opportunity to give back to their community. For women, like those served by the Cecil County Domestic Violence Center, having a clean, properly fitted bra is low on the list of priorities.  With only 15% of textile materials being diverted from the waste stream (source: SMART), our effort not helps reduce textile waste, but also provide the gift of encouragement and confidence to a woman in her most desperate hours,” Birks-Mitchell said.

The bra recycling program was added to the county’s existing recycling program on October 5 2011, just in time for October’s Bra Recycling Month.  Bra can be recycled in the pink bin at the Homeowner’s Convenience Center in the Central Landfill off Route 7 between 7:30 AM and 3:30 PM. In addition to bras, the Cecil County Recycling program also provides recycling for other household items including vinyl siding, vegetable oil, mercury thermostats, fluorescent lamps, cork recycling, and over 30 different materials. A full list of materials that can be recycled can be found at www.ccrecycling.org.  For more information about The Bra Recyclers, please contact Elaine Birks-Mitchell at 480-988-2283; info@brarecycling.com.

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The Bra Recyclers is based in Gilbert, AZ. A textile recycling company specializing in recycling bras, the organization does its part to help the environment by delaying the amount of unused bras and textiles that go to landfills, thus reducing the pressure on virgin resources. For more information, visit www.brarecycling.com.