I think this company is amazing. They donate clothes to the needy or goodwills while they give damaged clothes to organizations that can recycle them. This company is exactly what the planet needs read more

These guys should be ashamed of themselves. They collect clothing in a similar manner like Goodwill Industries, but unlike Goodwill they are a "for-profit" business. One of their clothing bins sits behind Trader Joes in Orange, CT. The state of Connecticut recently sued them and won. Here are the details: * Attorney General Wins $50,000 Award Against New York Clothing Bin Company For Deceiving Consumers * June 11, 2009 - Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today hailed a recent court decision fining a for-profit clothing bin company $50,000 for DECEIVING CONSUMERS INTO BELIEVING THEY WERE DONATING TO CHARITY and ordering it to change misleading information on its boxes. Judge Robert Satter reached his decision against American Recycling Technologies of East Northport, N.Y. after a trial in Hartford Superior Court. Blumenthal's office originally sued the company in 2004 on behalf of the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP). In exchange for a relatively small, flat fee, American Recycling prominently displays logos of charitable and service organizations on its bins. The company, however, pays the groups less than 10 percent of the bins' proceeds, while earning a profit of about 30 percent. The court ruled that American Recycling willfully deceived consumers by prominently displaying charitable and service organization logos on its boxes while failing to clearly state that it keeps most of the proceeds. It ordered the company to change its boxes to no longer mislead consumers. Blumenthal said, "This victory imposes a significant fine -- $50,000 -- and stops American Recycling from reprehensible trickery. This company deceived consumers with clothing bins -- about 70 at a time -- that produced big profits and paltry charitable benefits. Out of $2.7 million in revenues over five years, less than 10 percent went to any charity. Clothing bin operators beware: you cannot give away gave away crumbs and keep the cake. "New law strengthening notice rules means that consumers should more carefully read clothing bins before donating. Make sure that the bin owner is a charity, not a for-profit imposter. The message to clothing bin operators and contributors: gifts should go to assist the needy, not enrich the greedy." A new statute approved by the legislature and signed by the governor requires lettering at least two inches high on clothing bins stating whether donations benefit charity or not. If the bin benefits charity, the box must name the organization and inform consumers they can contact DCP for more information. The new law also requires operators to receive permission from owners to place bins on their property. American Recycling pays charitable and service organizations a flat fee -- $200 to $700 a year -- to display their logos on its bin. The company took in $2.72 million from its Connecticut bins from 2002 to 2007. Of that, only $225,115 went to charities and service organizations displayed on the bins -- less than 10 percent. The company kept $827,179 as profit, about 30 percent. As of 2004, the company had at least 73 drop boxes in Connecticut. They were in Ansonia, Darien, Derby, Greenwich, Middlebury, Milford, New Haven, Norwalk, Orange, Oxford, Seymour, Stamford, Trumbull, Farmington, Hamden, North Haven and Waterbury. Charities and service organizations whose logos were displayed on the boxes at that time included: the Narcotics Enforcement Officers Association, Valley/Amity Safe Kids, Seymour Police Department Community Resource Program, St. Joseph's School, Trumbull Police Department and Darien Volunteer Fire Department. The company still had 59 bins in the state in late 2008. (Article from website of Connecticut Attorney General Office) read more

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All the major media outlets that covered this story are hypocrites! My wife and I born again Christians, were thrown out of the Salvation Army for reporting sexual harassment, exploitation, and slavery, and we have documentation to prove it. Advertising by Salvation Army and City Union Mission of Kansas City, MO., to these media outlets is PAYOLA to keep stories like ours out of the media. read more

American recycling does give a small amount to charity, but they also create jobs, and pay taxes, and dispose of unwanted clothing which otherwise would wind up in the garbage for no purpose what so ever. They make a business out of a product which other wise would be useless in the garbage. Connecticutt did sue them but here is the the dumb move by the attorney general he won a $50,000 fine, and cost the tax payers $200,000 for investigating, and expenses....so he actually lost in a way. How about you go after big businesses who really make Billions of dollars fooling consumers, and not a small business which is disposing of a product which would other wise be waste. read more

if you actually read anything regarding the case you would see that blumenthal was suing for 2 mil. for him to say he won that case is ridiculous. $50,000 was just a slap on the wrist. i think the judge just didnt want to make blumenthal look like a complete ass so he imposed a teeny tiny fine but it was enough for american recycling to clean up there act. the OP's photos cleary show that theres no mistaking them for a charity read more