SUSTAINABILITY
As responsible stewards of the donated items and funds entrusted to use for the advancement of our nonprofit mission, and as protectors of our planet, Goodwill endeavors to make the most of every item we receive as we work towards our goal of zero waste.
Learn about some of the items we’re recycling and locate a convenient Goodwill donation center near you!
TEXTILES
We’re proud to be a leader in circularity, championing textile recovery and reuse throughout the first state and Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
Our organization is committed to collaborating with industry to create a circular economy for all textiles and finding innovative ways beyond in-store sales to repurpose and reuse items locally that would otherwise head to landfill or creating environmental harm.
Last year, we diverted more than 10,800 ton of items from Delaware landfills, supported by circularity initiatives, including our plastic bag/film recycling initiative with Trex, electronics recycling with DELL ReConnect and partnership with the University of Delaware’s Departments of Fashion & Apparel Studies and Art & Design.
Read about Goodwill® Industries International’s partnership with Reju™ and Waste Management® and how it’s helping Goodwill of Delaware & Delaware County get closer to our goal of zero waste.
BOOKS
Through our book recycling program beloved old stories get new lives! Your donated (hard cover, soft cover, reference and textbooks, fiction and non-fiction) books are sold in our retail and our online stores. Books that don’t sell through retail and online are diverted from landfills and sold as textile salvage through our book salvage operations. The revenue generated from these sales helps fund our workforce development programs.
COMPUTERS & ELECTRONICS
Through our partnership with Dell Reconnect, we’re able to offer consumers free recycling of any brand of computer equipment in any condition. Dell Reconnect diverts more than 2 million pounds of used computers and computer equipment from area landfills and provides consumer education on the importance of environmentally responsible computer disposal.
Simply bring your old computer equipment of any brand, working or not, to one of our 20 donation centers throughout Delaware and Delaware County, PA, and we’ll make sure your system and accessories are refurbished or recycled responsibly. Whatever parts cannot be reused or refurbished will be broken down securely and recycled responsibly, meeting Dell’s extensive and strict Electronic Disposition Policy.
PLASTIC FILM
You already know that donating your gently-used clothing and household items to Goodwill does good for your community by funding our Workforce Development programs. Now you can do even more GOOD by recycling your plastic bags and plastic films with us and TREX!
One of the largest recyclers of plastic film in North America, TREX uses more than 400 million pounds of recycled plastics – including more than 1.5 billion plastic bags each year to make its high-performance, wood alternative decking. A standard 16-foot TREX deck board contains recycled materials from approximately 2,250 plastic bags and is 95% recycled content.
Help Goodwill keep plastic bags and other plastic films out of our region’s waterways, beaches, roadsides and landfills.
2023
COMMUNITY
IMPACT
10800 +
TONS of goods diverted from landfills.
552000 +
DONATIONS of clothing and household items.
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