Bra Recycling For Charity – Where To Recycle Bras In The UK

Don’t bin your bras! Did you know that there are specific bra recycling schemes, that help benefit charity too? Read on for all the information you need to know.

Did you know you’re supposed to be measured for a bra every 6 months to ensure you’re wearing the correct size?

Whilst I don’t get measured that frequently (I’ve found a trick to make your bra last longer!), I once got measured after a prolonged break. Here, I found out I was wearing a completely wrongly sized bra. Right enough, the correct-sized bra was a huge improvement. However, it left me with a small collection of gently used unsuitably sized bras that I had no idea what to do with.

And then there are the bras that you wear and wear until they’re beyond the point of re-wear. You don’t want to put them in the bin and consign them to landfill. But just what do you do with them?

Thankfully, after quite a bit of research, I’ve found the best places to recycle your bras in the UK. This is whether they are gently worn or beyond the point or re-wear. And the best part is that as well as giving your old undies a new lease of life, you can help out charities in the process.

Bra Recycling For Charity In The UK

Here are all the UK charities that accept bras for reuse or recycling. To make this post extra helpful, I’ve also included the retailers with bra recycling schemes that support charitable causes. Use the quick links to navigate directly to a specific section or keep scrolling for the complete post.

• Smalls For All
• Against Breast Cancer
• Bravissimo (Supporting Women’s Aid)
• Your Smalls Appeal

Smalls For All

If you have any gently used bras that no longer fit or new unworn bras that you will never wear, then the Scottish charity Smalls For All will take them off your hands. After quality checking them, the bras then get sent out to girls and women in both Africa and the UK.

In Africa, Smalls for All helps those living in orphanages, slums, IDP (internally displaced persons) camps, and schools. Donations also go to those in hospitals suffering from medical conditions like obstetric fistula – a post-birth complication.

Smalls For All underwear has gone to many African countries. This includes Cameroon, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zanzibar, and Zimbabwe.

Within the UK, Smalls for All helps charities that focus on alleviating poverty in the UK by providing them with underwear, including good quality recycled bras.

It’s not just about bra recycling. As well as gently worn bras in all sizes, Smalls for All also gladly accepts new and unworn pants. It collects these in children’s sizes aged 3-15 years, UK ladies’ sizes 8-14, and men’s sizes XS-L. All colours of pants are collected, however, the ladies’ pants in greatest demand are black – in full brief, midi, mini, or high-leg styles.

Smalls For All will even support you in setting up a collection point in your local community.

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Against Breast Cancer

If your bras are beyond the point of donation to Smalls For All, you don’t have to bin them. Against Breast Cancer takes your unwanted or unloved bras – in any condition. This helps raise vital funds for pioneering breast cancer research.

Here the textiles are recovered by Against Breast Cancer’s recycling partners, and given a new lease of life. Plus, for every tonne of bras collected, Against Breast Cancer receives £700 to fund its research.

You can post your old bras directly to Against Breast Cancer. Alternatively, you can use the postcode locator on its website to find a bra bank near you. And if you’re in England, Scotland or Wales you can even request a free bra bank for your place of work.

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Bravissimo

Underwear retailer Bravissimo runs its own charity bra recycling scheme. Simply head to one of its 25 UK stores – peppered up and down the country – and place any old and unwanted bras (from any brand) in its collection bins. For every kilogram of bras collected, a donation is then made by Bravissimo to Women’s Aid –  the national charity working to end domestic abuse against women and children. 

Your old bras and then passed on to Bravissimo’s recycling provider A-TEX. This is a German company which focuses on finding innovative ways to recycle textiles and prolong the life of textile goods.

Bras that can be re-worn are passed on to communities around the world. The different materials and components are separated for those beyond the point of reuse. Some materials are recycled for padding for insulation or reworked to make car seats. Even the dust from these processes can cleverly be made into recycled cardboard!

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Your Smalls Appeal

If you have any gently used or unworn bras you can also pass these on to Your Smalls Appeal. This British charity collects these to send to rural villages across Africa, alongside sanitary pads, new pants, and new reusable menstruation pads. The charity also supports a growing number of children to access education by paying for their tuition, uniforms, and school books. 

The charity’s goal is to ensure that every girl has the right underwear, a menstruation kit to avoid period poverty, and, wherever possible, an education to help open up the number of opportunities available to them.

Go Further

Recycling doesn’t have to stop at your bras. If you’re cleaning out your underwear drawer, then check out my guide on how to recycle your old underwear correctly. I’ve got heaps of tips for what to do with your old knickers. I’ve also got a handy guide on how to use old socks in so many different ways.

And if you are looking to replace your old bras, try my big guide to ethical underwear.