Set your clothes free

GISA
Set your clothes free

Set your clothes free is back. On 31 October, South Australians are be invited to donate their unwanted high-quality clothing, and recycle poor quality clothing and textiles.

Australians are the world’s biggest consumers of fashion, purchasing an average of 53 items of clothing per person each year – but a significant portion of those end up unworn or underused, buried in wardrobes and destined for landfill.

Set your clothes free focuses on collecting unwanted textiles and giving them a second life. High quality items collected will be donated to charity partners, and low-quality items will be recycled. This eases the burden placed on charity stores that can become overwhelmed with poor-quality donations that can’t be re-sold.

Where are the drop-off sites?

14 drop-off points will be open across South Australia on Saturday 31 October, from 9 am to 3 pm.

Council	Drop-off site	Charity partner
Adelaide Hills Council	Adelaide Hills Council Office 26 Onkaparinga Valley Rd, Woodside SA 5244	Red Nose Limited
The Barossa Council	Council offices 43-51 Tanunda Road, Nuriootpa SA 5355	Australian Red Cross
Berri Barmera Council	Senior Citizens carpark 4 Draper Road, Berri SA 5345	Red Nose Limited
City of Burnside	Burnside Civic Centre 401 Greenhill Road, Burnside SA 5066	Salvos Stores
Central Adelaide Waste and Recycling Authority (CAWRA) and City of Charles Sturt	Beverley Recycling and Waste Centre 2-4 Toogood Avenue, Beverley SA 5009	Salvos Stores
CAWRA and City of Port Adelaide Enfield	Enfield Community Centre 540 Regency Road, Enfield SA 5085	Salvos Stores
Cities of Marion, Mitcham and Holdfast Bay	Marion City Services 935 Marion Road, Mitchell Park SA 5043	RSPCA
Mount Barker District Council	Environmental Services Centre – Events shed 5/100 Springs Road, Mount Barker SA 5251	Red Nose Limited
City of Mount Gambier	Mount Gambier Waste Transfer Station 5 Eucalypt Drive, Mount Gambier SA 5290	Lifeline South East
Northern Adelaide Waste Management Authority (NAWMA) and cities of Playford and Salisbury	NAWMA Resource Recovery Centre Gate, 3 Bellchambers Rd, Edinburgh North SA 5113	Red Nose Limited
City of Onkaparinga	Elizabeth House Positive Ageing Centre 112 Elizabeth Road, Christie Downs SA 5164	Salvos Stores
City of Tea Tree Gully	Tea Tree Gully Civic Centre 571 Montague Road, Modbury SA 5092	St Vincent de Paul Society
City of Whyalla	Civic Centre 21 Grundel Street, Whyalla Norrie SA 5608	St Vincent de Paul Society
Yorke Peninsula Council	Maitland Hub 3 Robert Street, Maitland SA 5573	St Vincent de Paul Society

What items will be accepted at the drop-off sites?
Accepted items include:
- clothing
- hats
- shoes
- socks
- handbags
- bathers, wetsuits and other swimwear
- linens, including:
  - bedding
  - blankets
  - bath and beach towels
  - tea towels
- fabric off-cuts and sewing scraps.
Items can be in any condition, as long as they've been washed since their last use.
What items won't be accepted at the drop-off sites?
Items that will not be accepted include:
- belts
- underwear
- bras with underwire
- cloth nappies
- doonas and pillows
- soft toys
- mattresses.
Clothing in poor condition will be accepted at the 2026 event.
Should I pre-sort my items?
If you're bringing both high-quality materials for donation and low-quality materials for recycling, please try to pre-sort them before dropping them off.

To determine if an item is high quality, think about whether you would be happy to give it to a friend or family member to wear or use. If it's not good enough to pass on to someone you know, chances are the item is a low-quality material.

Things to look out for that make a material low quality include:
- holes and tears
- pilling of fabric
- frayed edges
- stains
- discolouration of fabric.
If you're unable to pre-sort your items, thanks okay – just let the collection staff know when you drop your items off, and they will sort through them for you.
Do the items have to be clean?

All items must be washed to be accepted.

Stained clothing items, and linens with paint stains will be accepted, as long as they've been washed since their last use.
Can the household linen items have tears/rips?

Yes, clothing, footwear and linens that have been torn or damaged will be accepted, and will go on to be recycled.
Where will the collected textiles go?

Collected clothing, footwear and linens that are of a high quality will be sorted and distributed to our participating charitable organisations for resale.

Collected clothing, footwear and linens that are not high enough quality for resale will be collected by Shred-X and recycled by UPPAREL.
What were the results of the 2025 events?
In 2025, Green Industries SA partnered with local councils and charities to host 2 Set your clothes free events – in May and November – to help South Australians donate their unwanted, high-quality clothing and pass on their unwanted household linens for recycling.

Across both events, 42.4 tonnes of unwanted textiles were collected for donation and recycling, including:
- 24.4 tonnes of high-quality clothing and footwear collected for resale by Salvos Stores, Red Nose, RSPCA, Lifeline, and the Australian Red Cross
- 18 tonnes of low-grade household textiles – such as old sheets, towels, curtains and more – collected and transported by Shred-X to the Upparel facility in Victoria, where items will be shredded to be used as filling in new products including boxing bags and pet beds.