Blue Mountains Council is looking to reduce the clothing and other textiles filling up the limited space left in Blaxland tip.
A motion by Greens Cr Kerry Brown for council to investigate establishing a clothing (textile) recycling trial received unanimous support at the March council meeting.
Councillor Brown said: "We have limited space left at Blaxland tip. Once the last cell is full, we will have to truck our waste out of the Mountains at ratepayers expense. We should be doing everything we can to slow the process."
Cr Brown proposed that that the council follow the lead of Bathurst council's three-month recycling trial with Textiles Recyclers Australia (TRA). She said that Bathurst council, with around half the population of the Mountains, has diverted an average 910 kilograms per week from landfill since it started the trial four months ago.
It has now extended its contract with TRA as an ongoing arrangement.
The discarded textiles are distributed to developing nations; cut up for rags and cleaning uses; or broken down into fibres for re-creation into new fabrics.
Cr Brown said: "The fast fashion industry is a major battlefront for the war on waste with well over half a million tonnes of textiles going to landfill in Australia every year.
"I want council to look after our interests but we each also need to be personally responsible for the environmental and economic impacts of our clothing choices.
"Fast fashion devours water and energy and spews out pollutants for products that may not last a year. Once upon a time, clothes were expensive items, expected and made to last many years and repaired rather than thrown away. We need to get back to that way of thinking and acting."
She said the large number of charity and vintage shops in Katoomba alone indicated that many Mountains residents support the recycling economy.
Cathy Novak, manager of B'cos in Katoomba Town Centre Arcade, said: "Less is more. One good woollen winter coat is better than half a dozen cheaply made ones.
"Our shop focuses on quality and vintage clothing at affordable prices."
