Australians love fashion – but we may love it a little too much. On average, we buy 55 new clothing items every year, making us the biggest consumers of clothing in the world. At the same time, more than 220,000 tonnes of clothing end up in landfill annually, the equivalent weight of four Sydney Harbour Bridges.

Ballina Shire Council is stepping up, with the support of the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA). The Resource Recovery team has received a $32,400 grant to deliver a project called Creating a Circular Clothing Community in Ballina Shire, which will run until June 2026.

“Our aim is to work with the community to help shift behaviours around fashion and textiles by promoting repair and reuse to keep clothing out of landfill,” explained Justine Rowe, Resource Recovery Education Officer and project lead.

The first phase of the project has already kicked off and involved Ballina Shire Council teaming up with North East Waste to audit textiles and clothing dropped off at the Ballina Resource Recovery Centre.

Over four weeks, nearly 5,000 litres of textiles and more than 2,000 items were sorted by type and quality. Women’s clothing was the most common, followed by children’s wear.

Unfortunately, 83.5% of the items were in near-perfect condition or needed only a minor repair or clean to be worn again – highlighting a significant issue of good-quality clothing unnecessarily ending up in landfill.

“The numbers from the audit mirror the fashion waste problem across Australia. We have too many clothes, we wear them too little, and replacing them has become cheaper than repairing them,” said Ms Rowe.

“This project is about giving our community the tools and confidence to repair, upcycle and make smarter choices so we keep clothing and textiles out of landfill.”

The next stage of the project focuses on education and community engagement. Council has launched an online survey to better understand how locals buy, care for and dispose of their clothing. The survey is open until 1 September, and participants go into the draw to win a $50 gift card: ballina-clothing.paperform.co.

Council will also be hosting a series of free workshops to help residents learn practical skills in clothing repair, mending and upcycling. Upcoming workshops include:

• Intro to Upcycling: Transform a T-shirt into a Peplum Top or Dress
• Lennox Head CWA Hall – Wednesday 3 September, 10am to 12.30pm
• Visible Creative Hand-Mending
• Wollongbar Hall – Sunday 14 September, 10am to 1pm

Registration is required and spaces are limited. See Council’s website to register and to find out about future upcoming workshops: ballina.nsw.gov.au/textiles.

The NSW EPA provided Ballina Council with a $32,400 grant under the third round of the Local Government Waste Solutions Fund, as part of the NSW Government’s Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy. The project is funded through the waste levy.