The City of Malden is now providing curbside textile recycling through its partner vendor, Helpsy. Residents should note that the City no longer participates in the Pink Bag Program that was ended during the COVID pandemic. Residents may recycle unwanted textiles by booking an appointment with Helpsy. For assistance with which materials can be recycled through this program, please reference Helpsy’s materials list. Once an appointment is booked, residents will receive instructions from Helpsy on how and when to place the items at their curb for collection.
Schedule a home pickup by:
One great benefit to Malden's textile recycling program is that materials collected are recycled and sold on the secondary market by Helpsy and then the proceeds are given back to the City of Malden. Mayor Christenson has designated that these proceeds from the sale of recycled items be given directly to the Malden Public Schools Student Activities account.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), more than 84% of old clothes, shoes, belts, handbags, and textile items end up in a landfill or an incinerator. On average, that works out to about 85 pounds of textile items per person each year. As a result, textiles make up more than 6% of all the residential and municipal trash in the US.