Goodwill and Regional Recycling Partnership

Goodwill Industries of Arkansas and the Regional Recycling & Waste Reduction District will partner to give secondhand clothes the opportunity to provide second chances to Arkansans facing barriers of employment.

This promotional partnership will encourage people to donate and not discard clothing. Clothes should be donated to Goodwill where they will do the most good.

Clothing and items such as plastic bags, wire, rope, cords, and garden hoses are called "tanglers." These items should never be put in a curbside recycling cart because they wrap around the sorting machinery, tangling it up, and shutting it down.

38,278,596

Pounds of Product
Kept Out of Landfills

9,686,559

Pounds of Textiles
Recycled

1,720,540

Pounds of Books
Recycled

GOODWILL'S RECYCLING MODEL FOR SUSTAINABILITY

Step 1 | Recovery

We actively promote donating as a form of recycling, giving Arkansans an easy, environmentally friendly, recycling option instead of landfilling their unwanted items. In the last year, we have expanded our recovery process to include home pick up options, which provides recycling service to groups who might not have access to transportation.

Step 2 | Reuse

The resale of donations gives unwanted items a second life. Sales of these affordable products directly benefit local communities and the environment by reducing material consumption. This step has been a key component to our mission.

Step 3 | Recycle

When reuse is no longer an option, we recycle. We are continually exploring ways to further expand our recycling options to include new categories not previously processed such as fabrication of discarded plastics.

Step 4 | Reinvest

The revenue generated through our reuse & recycling program is reinvested directly into the local communities that partner with us. This added 4th step sets us apart from what others in our industry are doing in recycling. We have expanded our reinvestment step in the past two years with the objective of greater impact on Arkansas communities.

Pounds of Shoes Recycled

715,419

Pounds of Metal Recycled

494,280

Pounds of Cardboard Recycled

268,794

Recycled and Sustainability

Goodwill’s founder Reverend Edgar J. Helms once said, “Goodwill saves the waste in men and things.”

Most people aren’t aware of the fact that Goodwill was founded on sustainability principles. Starting in the late 1890s, Reverend Helms began finding salvageable materials to provide to individuals and families in need. In 1902, when Goodwill Industries was officially born, the focus was still on salvaging materials, but Reverend Helms learned that those he was serving wanted their own sustainable means of making a living.

He began repairing and then reselling the goods collected. In turn, this meant less waste in landfills as well as taking care of
the community, creating jobs, and generating profits redirected to the mission.

In FY23, GIA deepened its community recycling involvement by participating in Little Rock Recycle Days and with the City
of Fayetteville. Goodwill offers our partners E-waste recycling options and is becoming a thought leader in the materials
stewardship realm.