Socks with holes, moth-eaten sweaters and ripped T-shirts these aren't the kinds of garments one would normally consider donating. Yet the Salvation Army is seeking such unwearables as it aims to save clothing and other textiles from landfill, with the help of a high-tech machine.
The British nonprofit, through its trading unit that operates more than 400 secondhand clothing shops across the UK, is using the Fibersort machine to sift through mounds of items that are unfit for resale at its warehouse in Kettering, about an hour north of London by train. The machine, produced by Belgian manufacturer Valvan, a division of Valtech Group, consists of a box with sides that are each about 1 meter (3.3 feet) long. It has an attached conveyor belt and bins where the sorted clothes end up, based on material, such as cotton, polyester or wool.
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