By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER EAST SIDE — The biggest retail outlet in New York may just be the city's landfills that pile up with over 300 million tons of cast-offs every year.
But a new program set to be signed into law by Mayor Michael Bloomberg Monday will try to reduce that number by posting clothing-recycling bins around the city in an effort to re-route the clothes from the trash to thrift stores.
"We have been really looking for a chance to highlight the green aspect of thrift shopping and that thrift shopping is recycling," said Keith Mancuso, marketing director for Housing Works, which is in negotiations to run the program under the purview of the Department of Sanitation.
Although some of the initial 50 bins will be placed in public places, the majority will be located in the basements and laundry rooms of apartment buildings, Mancuso said.
The increase in donations would allow Housing Works, which provides housing and assistance to people living with AIDS, to increase its services in New York and outreach efforts around the country, Mancuso said.
"We're actually really excited about it because it's just going to make it easier for people to donate," he said.
Clothes that aren't set for resale in thrift stores will be sold at warehouse sales for $20 a bag with the leftover clothing repurposed for insulation, pillows and denim, he said.
Other collections would be sent to charities around the world.
The bill, which was introduced by Councilwoman Jessica Lappin, is an attempt to expand the city's recycling programs.
"Old clothes and other fabrics are a major part of our city's waste stream," Lappin said in a statement.
"Without the ability to recycle these items, we are literally throwing away an opportunity to create a greener, more sustainable city," she said.
In the past few years, New Yorkers have become more aware of the wastefulness in throwing away clothes, said Michael Sorel, president of Wearable Collections, a company that both collects and sets up clothing recycling bins in apartments around the city.
"It's great that the city is taking this on and they're offering an opportunity," Sorel said.
"But it still requires an effort from the people," he said.
At some of his company's bins set up around the city, residents drop off up to 350 pound of clothes a week, Sorel said.
The Department of Sanitation will finalize contracts and initial phase of the recycling plan within the next couple of weeks, said Kathy Dawkins, spokeswoman for the department.
Residents can expect to see the new bins set up by January of 2011.
