Clothes and textiles
In 2024, Gatineau residents threw away 4,700 metric tons of clothing and fabric. It cost Ville de Gatineau nearly $800,000 to transport these items and dispose of them at a landfill in the Laurentians, even though they could have been given a second life right here in Gatineau.
Ville de Gatineau therefore wants to help residents dispose of these items more effectively.
The interactive map lets you find all the available options in the area with just a few clicks: donation bins, reuse organizations, and ecocentres.
You'll find:
Clothing:
Anything you wear: T-shirts, pants, coats, shirts, dresses… as long as they're clean!
Shoes:
In matched pairs (all sizes)
Accessories:
Bags, belts, scarves, hats, etc.
Household linens:
Sheets, towels, blankets, curtains, etc.
Not accepted Wet, moldy, or soiled textiles (paint, oil, etc.) or those with strong odors
Donation bins are designed to give your clothes and textiles a second life. To ensure your donations reach those in need, please follow these guidelines:
 | Clean and dry clothing and textiles |
| Placed in sealed plastic bags |
| Placed inside the bin de la boîte |
 | Do not leave items on the floor: donations left on the floor will be discarded |
| No non-textile or bulky items |
Place items inside the bin only
Do not leave items on the floor
To ensure that donations can be dropped off easily and safely, certain dimensions must be followed. Each donation bin has a drop slot with the dimensions listed below for depositing your bags:
Ville de Gatineau offers a variety of opportunities to learn how to sew:
The curbside collection pilot project is available in the following two neighborhoods:
The next curbside textile collection will take place in the fall of 2026. Specific dates will be announced at a later time.
If you cannot wait for the next collection, you can drop off your textiles at existing drop-off locations.
Items you can drop off in a tightly sealed bag:
Textiles must bee clean, dry, and free of unpleasant odors.
If you use an opaque black bag, write "TEXTILES" on it in a clearly visible place.
Registration is required before the collection:
For any questions regarding the textile collection, please see the FAQ section below.
Some neighborhoods in the city have few or no drop-off points for used clothing. By installing donation bins on its properties, Ville de Gatineau is addressing this lack of drop-off points and ensuring that solutions are available close to residents.
The first five municipal donation bins are located at the following sites: parc Moussette (361 boulevard de Lucerne), parc des Cèdres (15, rue Raoul-Roy), and Complexe jeunesse (1109, rue de Neuville). Check the map to see all drop-off locations throughout the city.
The textiles are collected and sorted by Tricentris, a Ville de Gatineau partner specializing in waste management. This organization already has expertise in sorting facilities and is currently developing projects aimed at sorting textiles.
You can donate:
Not accepted:
Yes. Even clothing and textiles with minor defects (e.g., missing buttons, zippers that need repair, holes, etc.) have the potential to be reused or repurposed. Partner organizations sort textiles based on their potential for reuse or upcycling. Currently, there is no large-scale textile recycling solution in Quebec. That said, several research and development projects are underway, and we are confident that solutions will emerge in the coming years.
Depending on their condition
Ville de Gatineau works with recognized organizations that have a social and community mission, prioritize traceability, and are transparent about how recovered textiles are used. Textiles are sorted locally and directed to responsible reuse and recovery channels based on their quality.
No. The proceeds from the resale of textiles are used to support the social, community, and environmental activities of partner organizations.
Please report the situation by calling 311. We will respond promptly to resolve the issue.
If your bag is too large to fit through the opening:
Donations left on the ground are not protected from moisture and the elements, which makes them unsanitary and unsuitable for reuse.
These neighborhoods were selected because there were few nearby options for disposing of textiles.
No. There is no limit on the number of bags of textiles.
No. The number you provided during registration is used solely for collection planning. You can put out a few more or a few fewer bags on collection day. You only need to notify Ville de Gatineau if you registered but ultimately have no bags to put out (see the question about canceling a registration).
No. Use only tightly sealed plastic bags to protect the textiles from moisture.
You'll find a link to cancel your registration in the confirmation email you received when you registered. You can also notify us by calling 311.
You can drop off your textiles at any of the textile drop-off locations in the area at any time. The next pickup for the two participating neighborhoods will take place in spring 2026.
Call 311 to let us know. If you were properly registered for the collection, your bags will be picked up within 24 hours.
Textiles are sorted locally by a contracted organization and redirected to various outlets based on the quality of the textiles and market conditions: reuse organizations, companies specializing in textile recovery, and exporters. One of the objectives of the pilot project is to explore the various possible outlets based on the quantities and quality of the recovered textiles.
It's easy! Follow these steps:
You can put them in the grey bin.
Yes. Even if they're no longer to your taste, someone else might want them!
Everything is sorted: some items are resold at a low cost, cotton clothing can be used to make rags, and some items are exported internationally. For now, there are no recycling options for textiles in Quebec, but a lot of research and development is being done in this area.
Call 311 to report it. Everything will be picked up within 24 hours.
Faced with the rise of fast fashion and the drastic reduction in the number of donation bins available in Gatineau, the amount of textiles sent to landfills by Gatineau residents has increased fivefold over the past decade. In response to this issue and to meet the 2023-2029 PGMR goal of reducing textile waste by 75%, Ville de Gatineau must implement specific measures for textile recovery. A working group bringing together local reuse organizations and City representatives was established in the fall of 2023 to identify the challenges of textile recovery and the solutions needed to address them. Following six meetings of the working group, a public consultation report a was drafted
An action plan was adopted by the municipal council and will be implemented starting in January 2025.
Recognized for its quality of life, Gatineau is a city of 298,000 inhabitants. It is located on the north shore of the Ottawa River, and extends east and west of the Gatineau River.