For example, the Salvation Army, which collects some 25 million kilos of old clothes a year, pays around €1m in fees to the 100 local councils where it has collection bins, the paper says.

'Councils have to make cuts and are looking for new sources of income,' Andre Jansen of the Kici charity group told the paper.

Good causes

Kici is the second biggest collector of old clothes in the Netherlands, after the Salvation Army. 'Councils are increasingly asking for part of the proceeds and that is very irritating,' Jansen said. 'Every cent we give the council does not go to the good causes we support'.

Councils are demanding up to 35 cents a kilo to place collection bins, the paper says. Old clothing itself generates between 55 cents and 75 cents a kilo, meaning in some cases half the proceeds go to local government.

Not all councils charge for the service, the paper points out.

© DutchNews.nl