Critical eye cast at Atwater recycling bins

Bright green donation bins are popping up all over town, offering Atwater residents a convenient way to get rid of old clothes and shoes while promising to help the environment.

But one city official says the bins are deceiving the public and preying on the kindness of Atwater residents.

“These people are making millions,” said Gary Brice, chairman of the Community Development and Resources Commission, standing in front of a bin this week. “They’re shipping the donations overseas and selling them. It’s misrepresentation, and it’s going after the good side of people.”

About 10 donation bins have appeared in Atwater, under names including USAgain, The Gaia Movement USA and 7th Generation Recycling. Brice said the number of collection boxes has doubled in recent weeks.

Many business owners didn’t know the bins were being placed on their sites, added Councilman Brian Raymond. “Some of them are dropped off in the middle of the night without permission,” he said.

The concerns from Atwater city officials follow news media reports that raise questions about the business practices related to the donation boxes. A 2011 Chicago Tribune investigation found a number of the bins – Gaia, USAgain, Planet Aid, IICD and Humana – were linked to a Danish group called Tvind.

The Tvind-related businesses have garnered poor grades from the American Institute of Philanthropy and Better Business Bureau for a lack of transparency and failing to meet accountability practices.

A USAgain box was placed on the property of Bobbi’s Liquor store on the corner of Shaffer and Bellevue roads in Atwater. Owner Menu Singh said that a company representative asked her permission before placing the box, offered a stack of informational packets and asked her to sign an agreement.

In return for placing the bin on the property, Singh said she receives a small commission – about $50 for three months. “It’s not harming us and they said it’s helping people,” Singh said. “So we said ‘OK’ as long as it doesn’t block our parking lot.”

But Singh said she was told USAgain is a nonprofit organization, despite the collection box and company website saying it’s a for-profit company.

“They said it’s a nonprofit association and they send clothes to needy families,” she said. “But if it’s for profit, then we might have to look at it and make sure it’s not a misuse.”

Tobin Costen, a division manager for USAgain, said the company has never posed as a nonprofit charity. “No one in my organization would ever say we’re nonprofit,” he said. “We always tell people we’re a for-profit organization because that’s what we are. Whatever you put in the bin is not tax-deductible.”

Costen said the organization’s goal is to reduce waste at landfills and extend the life cycle of clothes and shoes. He said the donations are collected weekly, processed at a Hayward plant and then resold both locally and internationally. Some items are sold to thrift shops and others are shredded to produce insulation or cushion materials.

Costen said 8,115 pounds of donations were collected in Atwater last year. The profits are reinvested in the west Chicago-based company, which has 300 employees nationwide. Costen said USAgain is not affiliated with the Tvind group.

Brice believes the for-profit collection bins hamper the efforts of nonprofits such as Goodwill and the Salvation Army. None of the new donation boxes have obtained a business license, he added, which is a loss of revenue to the city.

Atwater Community Development Director Scott McBride confirmed the companies haven’t obtained licenses. He said his office would have denied the applications because the bins are considered a nuisance. “They become a location for dumping materials around the outside, vandalism and graffiti,” McBride said.

This story was originally published March 5, 2015 at 9:45 PM with the headline "Critical eye cast at Atwater recycling bins."