- The inflow increased quite sharply during the first half of the pandemic, since then there has continued to be a higher inflow than before the pandemic, says Magnus Lundén, unit manager Circuit Collection & Second Hand at the Red Cross.

According to SVT's tour of the largest Swedish organizations, 60-80 percent of the collected gifts are things that either cannot be sold in Sweden or things that must be thrown away.

Must be discarded

Last year, 1108 tonnes of gifts arrived at Myrorna's central warehouse, which went directly to combustibles.

The operating cost of only disposing of unusable textiles in the same year amounted to 1.2 million.

- When it comes to textiles, we get in about 10 percent garbage, such that can neither be reused nor recycled.

Our experience is that it increases a little, a little bit, with each passing year, says Urban Bolin, collection manager at Myrorna.

Aid organizations have to pay

It can be wet garments, extremely dirty garments or household waste that is thrown in unmanned collection containers.

The new plastic tax has exacerbated the problem because the goods are less packaged.

- It is a big problem as the costs of taking care of the garbage in the right way are high.

It is money that could instead have gone to the Salvation Army's social work, writes Åsa Blomberg, communications manager at Myrorna.

Municipalities make different assessments

At Erikshjälpen and PMU, each store handles its waste management at the municipal recycling centers.

- In some municipalities we have to pay, other municipalities receive the waste free of charge, says Anette Alm Gustafsson, CEO of Second Hand Erikshjälpen.

- Since we are an aid organization and help the municipal resident with their sorting, perhaps more municipalities should let us leave for recycling free of charge.

According to the municipalities' industry organization, Avfall Sverige, only organizations that carry out procured assignments for the municipality can in practice leave waste free of charge.

- Since the municipality is obliged to treat everyone who leaves municipal waste equally, there is really no room not to charge certain categories of waste donors.

The municipalities that have chosen not to charge for such waste management have nevertheless made a decision to subsidize these activities, says Andrea Hjärne, environmental lawyer at Avfall Sverige.

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Hear the aid organization's tips on what you can donate - and not.

Photo: Fanny Renman / SVT