Clothing bin company that gives back to community gets OK to operate in Babylon Town

The Town of Babylon has renewed an annual moratorium on clothing collection bins but is giving a pass to a company that’s using the bins to help students in Copiague.

The only bins allowed on town-owned property belong to Advanced Climate Resources LLC of Huntington, which has four containers: two in Tanner Park in Copiague and two near the North Amityville pool. The company franchises the bins from Clothes Bins, a Florida-based company.

The town has waived its fees for Advanced Climate Resources because the company is donating a portion of its profits to the Copiague Youth Soccer League and the Copiague PTA Council. The company is also unique because it is able to remotely monitor the bins to keep them tidy, said Ron Kluesener, solid waste administrator for the town.

“They’ve been great so far,” he said of the company, which started collecting in August. “[They’ve] done a good job maintaining the current locations while donating funds.”

The town first enacted a moratorium on new applications for the containers more than 15 years ago, drawing the ire of charities that rely on the bins for revenue. Town officials insisted at the time that the containers had become eyesores, with people leaving clothes and other items scattered outside.

“It was a nightmare,” Kluesener said of the container messes. Occasionally, homeless people would sleep in the bins, he said.

Kluesener said there’s now three approved container sites in the town, although some “legitimate” charities have bins on private properties that the town monitors.

Aside from Advanced Climate Resources, Babylon allows one for-profit business to have bins, H&M Leasing, which has had a license for an East Farmingdale container with the town since officials first started requiring them more than 20 years ago, Kluesener said. That company pays about $2,000 to the town, he said. 

Keeping textiles out of the trash

Ken Bruder, CEO of Advanced Climate Resources, said he wants to help the textile industry reduce its carbon footprint.

According to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, every year New Yorkers throw away almost 1.4 billion pounds of textiles, such as clothing, towels and sheets, with about 85% going into landfills and incinerators. According to the DEC, production of textiles results in more greenhouse gas emissions than from “international flights and maritime shipping combined.”

Bruder, a U.S. Navy veteran who has worked in the renewable energy field for 30 years, said one way to help reduce emissions is to recycle old clothing.

“I was trying to figure out, how can I play in this in a way that I could serve the local community and also improve the environment,” Bruder said about starting his company in 2023.

He pointed to the high percentage of clothing going into landfills as one of his targets.

“We need to reduce that dramatically and get that down, ideally, below 50%,” he said.

The bins have capacity sensors that Bruder monitors daily. He said he tries to empty them when they get 60% to 70% full. The clothing then gets trucked to the company’s base in Huntington and loaded into tractor trailers that are then sent to buyers around the country, such as thrift shops. Clothing prices fluctuate but range from about 30 to 50 cents per pound, Bruder said.

Of that, Bruder’s company gives 10 cents per pound to the soccer league and PTA council. Bruder said that since August, the bins have collected 10 tons of clothing and given $2,000 to the groups.

“This is the ideal fundraiser,” he said. “It costs them nothing, we do all the work, and all they have to do is find us a property and they get a check every month.”

‘It’s a win-win’

Bianca Ordonez, 48, president of both the soccer league and the PTA council, said the money for the league helps students who cannot afford tuition and uniform costs. The PTA money subsidizes student scholarships, PTA training and community events. Ordonez called the bin effort a “great partnership” that also teaches students the importance of protecting the Earth.

“It’s a win-win situation,” Ordonez said. “It’s a great way to not only help our community but our environment.”

Bruder said he wants to set up more bins in Babylon and in other towns.

Since 2023, the company has had two bins at Huntington Town’s residential drop-off recycling center, which have collected 23,000 pounds of clothing, according to John Clark, the town’s director of environmental waste management.

Clark called the bins “very successful.” The town has received $2,200 in revenue so far, he said, which goes toward the center’s operating expenses.

He said that this spring, the town will add Advanced Climate Resources bins at the senior center and Dix Hills ice rink.