Entrepreneur reluctant to divulge philanthropic effects of recycling project

An entrepreneur behind a Maltese initiative that aims at creating green jobs locally and abroad using recycled clothes, has declined to divulge details about the work he carries out for the benefit of developing countries.

ElectroWaste’s managing director Brian Cardona has declined to explain how his clothes donation service works, while actively promoting it amongst several local councils. 

ReFab Malta, a textile-recycling project launched in November 2011, is supposedly meant to “reduce the pressure on the earth” and increase economic growth in developing countries. But when MaltaToday invited Cardona to explain the process and the beneficial effects of his project, he suddenly became reluctant to go into much detail.

“The project provides complementary collection of unwanted clothes. After pick-up, the clothes are then sorted by quality. Items which are still in good condition are packaged and shipped off to be sold in third world countries, namely Tunisia, India and the region of South Africa,” Cardona said.

However, when it comes to items which are not in good condition, the ReFab Facebook page has stated that these are thrown out.

“We chose these countries because they require the clothes items as well as the business that this project brings in,” Cardona added.

However, when asked to elaborate further about who the items are sold to, and what is done to help the people in these countries, Cardona’s answers turned short and vague.

“We sell the clothes to people in these countries in order to create green jobs. They buy the clothes by weight, and then resell them to the public at very low prices,” he said.

“The reason why we don’t just donate them is because if we did, people would just use them and that would be the end of it. There would be no contribution.”

This year, ReFab also launched clothes banks in particular localities. The banks are blue containers, similar in shape to post boxes, situated in different parts of Malta, including Balzan, Qormi, Naxxar, Mqabba, Zebbug, Birkirkara, San Gwann, Hamrun, St Paul’s Bay, St Julian’s, Ghajnsielem, Marsalforn, Sannat, Nadur and Victoria, Gozo. Pictures of the banks posted on the ReFab Facebook page clearly show that there is no information in the area about the banks other than a list of what can be dropped off.

Items which are not in good condition are thrown out

Cardona added that through this project, the load on the environment’s virgin resources was being lightened. “This project reduces 400,000kg of refuse from landfills a year,” he said.

The environmental factor seems to be what attracted local councils to collaborate in this project, especially with the latest initiative of clothes banks.

“I heard about ReFab during an annual general meeting when Brian gave a speech about his project. We thought it was a good idea so we decided to collaborate. Our aim was to find another use for the fabric that comes from unwanted clothes,” Mqabba mayor Charlene Zammit said, explaining how Mqabba was the first locality to provide this service.

“As a locality we had organised a collection of unwanted clothes before and it had gone down well. We were then approached by ReFab with the idea of a clothes bank and after discussing it internally, we decided to hop on,” Zebbug mayor Sarah Agius said.

San Gwann executive secretary Kurt Guillaumier explained that when the local council had organised a similar initiative once a month independently, it resulted that it was not economically viable nor did the council have the space to hold the clothes. “When ReFab approached us with a written proposal, the deputy mayor held a meeting and decided to proceed,” he said, mentioning that San Gwann currently has four clothes banks. “I am not aware that the merits of what happens after collection was discussed.”

“When discussing with Mr Cardona, we didn’t really talk about what would happen to the clothes. We know that, according to his website, they are sent to other countries,” a spokesperson for the Birkirkara local council said.

Similarly, Attard councillor Ralph Cassar said: “Our biggest concern was that these unwanted clothes didn’t end up in landfills. So when I discovered the initiative, I got in contact and signed up.”

Attard mayor Stefan Cordina highlighted the fact that the service was aimed at waste management and that as a local council, their plight was to reduce the amount of material being thrown away. “Notices sent to residents never called for ‘donations’ of clothes and we never said it was ‘charity’,” he said. “It is our duty to promote the reduction, re-use and recycling of waste so we decided to offer this additional collection service.”

“The council makes sure that waste handlers possess the necessary local permits to handle material – it is ERA’s remit to track what happens to waste,” he added.

St Julian’s mayor Guido Dalli explained that because of the particular realities of the locality, ReFab decided it would be better not to install clothes collection banks around the area, for fear of misuse.

“Instead, we agreed that locals can drop off clothes at the council, which are then picked up from there,” Dalli said. When asked about what happens after collection, Dalli replied: “I’m sure he does it for money, but our main concern is that the amount of waste is reduced from landfills.”

St Paul’s Bay mayor Graziella Galea explained that while the local council had approved the proposal made to them by ReFab to install small containers around the locality, it had also reached another agreement. “The local council has also reached an agreement with ReFab that if residents, due to the social realities we live in, require particular clothing, for example for a three-year-old girl, Refab would supply these clothes, choosing the clothes that are in a good condition from the clothing that has been deposited in these containers.”

“Rather than donating clothes, this is a method through which clothes which would otherwise have been thrown away by the residents are reused, either in the state they have been disposed of, or else reused as textiles,” she added. 

ElectroWaste, which sponsors the project, is a registered waste broker. Its registration is issued in line with the Waste Management Regulations, which do not distinguish between different waste types a broker can manage.