5.4 Million Francs for the Aid Organizations - A total of 34,200 tonnes of used textiles and shoes collected in 2012 meant a 1.4 percent decrease compared to the 34,700 tonnes of the previous year, yet the operative result has been impressive: Texaid was able to pay out 5.4 million francs of the total net proceeds to its aid organizations, Samaritan societies, Kolping Families, and local non-profit organizations. Hence the charitable share in profits could be increased by a handsome 46 percent. This was accomplished thanks to a continuous increase in efficiency and quality on all levels.

The collection organization Texaid and its subsidiary Contex maintain more than 5,600 containers for used textiles all over Switzerland and conduct street collections twice a year each. About 34,200 tonnes of used textiles and shoes were collected in this manner in 2012. That is a decrease of just under 500 tonnes compared to the previous year. Reasons for this first ever drop in total weight since the launch of Texaid are, on the one hand, a tougher competition on the domestic market for used clothing collections and, on the other hand, a gradually increasing restraint of consumers when it comes to the disposal of clothes. According to Texaid's CEO Martin Böschen, consumers are showing an increased ecological awareness regarding the life span of clothes: «People maybe rather keep a wearable piece in their wardrobe till the next season instead of definitely disposing of it.»

Own Sorting Creates Value Added
Texaid is the only collection organization in Switzerland, that operates its own professional sorting plants. It is only the sorting that turns clothes randomly discarded in collection bags into valuable items. This way, 95 percent of the collected goods are suitable for further use and only five percent have to be disposed of as waste. 65 percent are well-preserved clothes that may still be of good use to people in economically and socially disadvantaged countries; they can be bought at reasonable prices. About 15 percent are manufactured into cleaning rags by Texaid subsidiaries in Hungary and Bulgaria, another 15 percent are processed in foreign recycling plants and, for example, become part of insulation materials.

30 Million in Ten Years
In 2012, the ISO-9001 certified company generated a share in net profit of 5.4 million francs for the affiliated aid organizations and their local grassroots groups. 1.9 million of it will go to the aid organizations, regionally active Samaritan societies, Kolping Families and various local non-profit organizations will get 3.5 million francs. Texaid, located in Schattdorf in the Canton of Uri, is able to do this with currently 120 employees and without any subsidies. According to CEO Martin Böschen, this exceptional result – a 46 percent increase compared to the 3.7 million francs of the previous year – could be achieved through strict quality management on all levels, especially a professional refinement of the sorting process, and continuous investments. This is complemented by cost awareness and the use of an efficient, ecologically minded logistics fleet. The aid organizations, that have founded Texaid 35 years ago and have had a fifty percent share in the company right from the start, together with their affiliated grassroots groups, receive an annual share of up to 90 percent of the net proceeds (after deduction of all collecting, operating, labor and investment costs). It have been more than 30 million francs, that Texaid has generated this way for non-profit, charitable purposes in the last ten years.

The six aid organizations Swiss Red Cross, Caritas Switzerland, Winterhilfe Switzerland, Solidar Switzerland, Kolping Switzerland, and HEKS participate in Texaid.

www.texaid.ch