Bra recycling comes to Bolton

The pink bra banks are being put all over Bolton

These days, there's a recycling bin for everything from bottles and paper to plastic bags and shoes, but what about underwear?

With the installation of new pink bra bins, that's exactly what has been unveiled in Bolton.

The town's council is the first in the North of England to launch the recycling service.

The collected bras will be transported, along with other clothing, to the developing world.

Bolton council's deputy leader Linda Thomas says that the bins have a dual purpose, both to "help women who are not able to buy quality bras" and to raise "money for charities that are helping with breast cancer."

Councillor Thomas hopes that the donated bras will be usable ones "that people have grown out of or have been given as presents that are not suitable and obviously, we want them to be clean."

Adding: "If they're in a suitable condition, pop them in a plastic bag and pop them in one of the pink canisters."

Every bra donated will earn money for Breast Cancer Campaign, a charity which funds research into understanding how breast cancer develops.

The council and textile recycling company BCR Global Textiles are installing seven of the bright pink bra recycling banks at recycling sites across the borough and another six across council buildings.