HomeEvery day and in every State of Australia charities assist tens of thousands of people through home visitation, migrant and refugee assistance, hospital and health services, prison visitation, aged care services, supported employment services for people with an intellectual disability, education for disadvantaged children, welfare assistance, hostels for the homeless, overseas relief, disaster recovery, budget counselling and youth programs and suicide prevention counselling.
We feed and clothe Australian men, women and children overwhelmed by life’s hardships.
A significant number of these community programs are funded by the income derived from clothing recycling collection bins. Programs, that if not funded from these income sources, would require public funding through State and Federal tax and Local Government Association rate sources.
The National Association of Charitable Recycling Organisations (NACRO) is the peak body representing charitable recycling organisations throughout Australia.
The business of NACRO members is to generate social capital through recycling activities to fund welfare programs. Indeed, millions of individuals benefit from the products, operations, and programs that are delivered to the community as a result of the funds generated from NACRO members‚ recycling operations.
NACRO members range from the largest national charities to individual shops that collectively run thousands of shops around Australia. Donations of first and second hand goods can be made by depositing into charity bins, thousands of which are located across Australia, and/or drop-offs directly to charity shops.
NACRO provides a forum for the exchange of ideas, information and advice between member organisations; assisting them to continuously improve their recycling operations in order that they can provide optimal funding for their charitable aims in the community. NACRO represents its members and has collective influence at local, state and national level, when legislation affecting this industry is being drafted or reviewed.
NACRO advocates educating the community to donate goods responsibly to provide maximum profits for social welfare with minimum cost to the environment. It represents its members at a local, state and national level, when legislation affecting this industry is being drafted or reviewed.
The contribution of Charity Shops to the community is sustainable development
There is no doubt that without the recycling activities of the charitable recycling organisations (the proceeds from which fund welfare programs), both State and Federal governments would have significantly higher social costs in addition to an unmanageable volume of landfill, the management of which would be funded through increased taxes and a massive bureaucracy. For more information about NACRO and what we are doing, please click on the links provided.
Level 15, 10 Queens Road
MELBOURNE VICTORIA 3004 AUSTRALIA
Telephone: +61 3 9866 5443
Email: information@nacro.com.au
DEC09: Merry Christmas: NACRO wishes all of its members and the charitable recycling communities a very merry Christmas.
DEC09: NACRO objects to the draft of the NSW Residential Tenancies Bill 2009.
NACRO lodged an objection to the draft of the NSW Residential Tenancies Bill 2009 that proposed that landlords be able to dispose of the goods of tenants by donating them to a charitable organization. Click here to view the letter sent to the NSW Fair Trading Policy Division.
DEC09: Textile Recycling now promoted
on You Tube
The North American Secondhand Materials and Recycled Textiles Association (SMART) is now on You Tube. Click here to view the video on-line.
DEC09: UK charities fight over second hand clothes market
The Guardian in the UK reports a turf war has broken out between British charities and commercial operators over the increasingly competitive market in second hand clothes. Click here to view the article on-line.
DEC09: A waste timebomb that must be defused
Ian Kiernan, Australia’s most well known Clean-up Australia advocate wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald that waste is a timebomb that must be diffused by recycling. Click here to view the article on-line.
NOV 09: NACRO conference exceeded all expectations
The NACRO 2009 annual conference was held on 12th – 13th October 2009 at the Country Place at Kalorama in Victoria and attracted 62charitable recycling practitioners who had travelled from all around Australia. Home of spectacular tall forests, the Dandenong Ranges National Park was the picturesque place to unwind, relax and be enriched by a program of informative presentations. The conference program featured a stimulating mix of 13 presentations from leading local and international recycling practitioners. A full report on the conference can be seen here.
NOV 09: Ken Richardson of Lifeline steps down as NACRO Chairman
Following a heartfelt speech at NACRO’s recent AGM, Ken Richardson announced his resignation as NACRO Chairman. “I have had the opportunity to better get to know and work with a group of skilled and dedicated people within the charitable recycling sector, all working toward a common goal which is supporting and enhancing the capacity of communities across the country in a myriad of different ways. It has been a privilege to be welcomed into their world and to better understand depth, diversity and impact of the work we all do, but more important a better appreciation of why we do it.” Ken’s commitment to NACRO was saluted by the members and guests who attended the conference dinner. Ms Cathy Bray, CEO of the Smith Family Commercial Enterprise is the new NACRO Chairman.
NOV 09: NACRO Victoria to undertake study on charitable collections
Sustainability Victoria recently granted NACRO Victoria funds to commission a landmark study to determine the profile and volumes of post consumer waste collected and/or donated to charitable recycling organisations in Victoria with the aim to develop policies and programs to assist the intelligent management of post-consumer waste and landfill mitigation. The report will be undertaken by double-t innovations pty ltd, an Albury based firm that specialises in sustainable business strategies and will be available to NACRO members early
next year.
NOV 09: Historic agreement sets waste agenda to 2020 for less waste and more resources
Australia’s environment ministers have agreed to a new national policy on waste and resource management. The historic agreement took place in Perth at the biannual meeting of the Environment Protection and Heritage Council (the Council). The National Waste Policy sets the agenda for waste and resource recovery in Australia over the next 10 years. The Council’s communiqué can be seen at this link; the Decision Regulatory Impact Statement for Televisions and Computers can be seen at this link; and the policy document “Less Waste, More Resources” can be seen at this link.
NOV 09: BIR – Textile Division: impact of the crisis is not as hard as anticipated
The international trade federation representing the world’s recycling industry, the Bureau of International Recycling - Textile Division announces the impact of the crisis is not as hard as anticipated. View BIR Press release at this link.
Sept 09: Fraudulent clothing collectors using old Smith Family plastic bags
Earlier this month the Smith Family issue a press release to Brighton residents warning them to be wary of potentially fraudulent collectors. The warning comes after a series of Smith Family branded brown plastic bags once used by the non-profit to collect donations, were left in residential mail boxes. In some cases bags have been filled by residents unknowingly and collected by an unknown party.
Click here to view the Smith Family Media release.
Sept 09: Healthy registrations for the NACRO conference
Kerryn Caulfield, NACRO Executive Manager reports that the registrations for the conference scheduled for the 11th, 12th and 13th October are healthy! Indeed, the event is shaping up to be one of the best NACRO has hosted with delegates registered from six states and one NACRO member travelling 4,000 kilometres from Humpty Doo in the Northern Territory. Places are still available for non residential delegates. Tuesday night accommodation has been booked out for residential delegates; however Sunday and Monday nights are still available. The booking form can be found on the NACRO website – or by clicking through this link.
Sept 09: Bin littering signs
Littering around recycling collection bins continues to menace both the charitable recycling practitioners and the community. NACRO members are sharing knowledge on the effectiveness of littering prevention signs displayed on recycling collection bins. Click through to this link and this link for examples of two such signs used by Lifeline Brisbane. Please feel free to forward images of signs that have been effective in deterring dumping and littering around bins.
Sept 09: Announcement – Visiting Expert to Speaker at NACRO Annual Conference
NACRO is proud to announce that Professor Mohammad Taherzadeh from School of Engineering at the University of Borås in Sweden will be speaking on the first day of the NACRO annual conference.
Click here to read the full Media release and here for the conference brochure.
Sept 09: The UK Association of Charity Shops warns of 'potentially fatal' loss of support: Public confidence in door-to-door clothing collections is being "potentially fatally undermined" by partnerships involving charities that do not run stores, according to a report by the Association of Charity Shops in the UK.
Click here to read the full copy of the article.
Sept 09: Article in the Newcastle Herald –
“Charity income stripped”
A recent article published in the Newcastle Herald, reported that “a commercial operator is robbing charities of profitable second-hand clothing, their main source of income with bins incorrectly labelled as being linked to a charity.”
Click here to read the full copy of the article.
July 2009: The Environment Protection and Heritage Council asked the Australian Government, in consultation with state and territory governments and the Local Government Association of Australia, to develop a National Waste Policy. A Draft of the National Waste Policy Framework – “Less waste more resources”.
The discussion paper can be found here.
July 2009: In a communiqué released in July, the Environment Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC) announced its support for a national
e-waste product stewardship system.
The full report can be seen here.
July 2009: Announcement of the NACRO 2009 annual conference. Click here to view information
June 2009: NACRO policy for the use and operation of recycling and household items clothing recycling collection bins.
Click here for the information and report
May 2009: NACRO submission to the National Waste Policy enquiry – Managing Waste to 2020 Click here for the information and report
January 2009: Release of a discussion paper - Sources of Textile Waste in Australia
Click here for the information and report
