Planet Aid

Planet Aid is a non profit organization headquartered in Elkridge, Maryland. Its primary activity is the collection of clothing and other household items for resale and recycling. Founded in 1997 in Massachusetts, the organization has expanded down the East Coast of the United States and operates in 23 states, where it collects items through donation bins placed on sidewalks, parking lots, and other public areas. Some of the proceeds, along with U. S. government grants, are used for charitable aid in Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and other African nations. The American Institute of Philanthropy's CharityWatch has given the organization an "F" rating, disputing Planet Aid's assessment of its charitable spending. Investigations by media and government agencies have also found discrepancies in the stated amount of Planet Aid's charitable expenses, as well as alleged links between Planet Aid and the controversial Danish organization Tvind, whose leader, Mogens Amdi Petersen, is wanted on charges of fraud and tax evasion. Planet Aid has denied these allegations. Planet Aid is a member of the international charity group Humana People to People, an offshoot of Tvind.

Planet Aid is part of an international charitable organization called Humana People to People, founded in Denmark in 1977. Humana began as a door to door clothing collection drive aimed at helping people living under the rule of apartheid in South Africa. Planet Aid first began operating in the United States in 1997 by opening a collection center in Lawrence, Massachusetts. In 2000, Planet Aid’s operations spread to the Washington metropolitan area by placing its yellow bins in several cities in the area. By 2002, Planet Aid operated in about seven states in the US, reaching as far south as Winston Salem, North Carolina. By 2004, the organization began expanding into the mid west by establishing operations in Pittsburg, Kansas. As of 2007, the organization operated in a total of 19 states which included several cities in Upstate New York. Several of the communities into which the organization had expanded and news reports on the charity’s expansion became critical of the nonprofit’s finances. The organization has been impacted by local ordinances that impose restrictions on the placement of collection bins. Some municipalities have proposed outright bans on all donation bins, which have sometimes impacted Planet Aid. In 2014, Planet Aid filed a lawsuit against Ypsilanti Township, Michigan, one of a number of cities that had passed a local ordinance banning charity collection boxes over concerns about litter and vandalism. In April 2015, a federal appeals court upheld an earlier federal court ruling that Planet Aid's collections bins constitute a protected form of free speech and struck down a local zoning restriction in St. Johns, Michigan that had outlawed all such collection boxes, as a violation of the First Amendment protections. Since winning its federal ruling, Planet Aid has sued several other cities with similar ordinances, and used the decision to induce local leaders to craft regulations that allow placement of such boxes.

Planet Aid collects used clothing through a wide network of donation bins placed on public and private property, donation centers, and curbside pickups. The group has collaborated with local businesses and other organizations to place bins on their property, with an aim to make donations more convenient and thus increase recycling rates. The group states that recycling used clothing and shoes contributes to reduced emissions of greenhouse gases and helps in reducing the amount of waste that municipalities must haul from residences. It was estimated as of 2008 that the organization collects and resells over 70 million pounds of clothing per year. According to Planet Aid, the proceeds from resold donated clothes and recycled textiles are used to fund international development projects via organizations in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. However, the program does on occasion donate bedding and winter clothing from its collections to local US resident in needs. as of 2015, 94% of its grant funding is directed to programs operated as part of the Humana People to People (HPP) Federation. In November 2015, the US State Department sponsored an educational visit of Planet Aid's Elkridge, Maryland headquarters for a delegation of Russian recycling experts to learn how Planet Aid sorts and handles 100 million pounds of donated textiles every year and how they can develop similar practices and infrastructure in that country.

Planet Aid participates in a number of programs in Africa. Planet Aid has been operating as a charity in partnership with Development Aid from People to People in Malawi (DAPP Malawi) since 1995. In 2001, Planet Aid partnered with Johnson & Johnson in aiding the fight against the spread of AIDS in Southern Africa. These programs are run through DAPP Malawi and Ajuda de Desenvolvimento de Povo para Povo (ADPP), who, along with Planet Aid, are members of the Humana People to People Federation. The DAPP In Service Teacher Training Program in Malawi, supported by Planet Aid, was awarded the UNESCO Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Prize in 2016. Planet Aid has also collaborated with the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health program, run by the American Soybean Association, to provide nutrition education in Mozambique. Planet Aid earned $33 million from selling used clothes in 2018. Accordingly, CharityWatch says the costs of collecting used clothes are fundraising expenses, rather than charitable program expenses as claimed by Planet Aid; hence Planet Aid spent only 25% of its budget on charitable programs in 2018, rather than the claimed 85%. Planet Aid's federal tax filing from 2011 shows 28% of its budget being used for international aid programs, with the remainder mostly being spent on collecting and processing used clothes. The BBB Wise Giving Alliance (WGA) lists Planet Aid as an accredited charity, stating that Planet Aid fulfills its 20 standards for charity accountability. Charity Navigator gave the organization a three out of four star rating with a total score of 81.62 percent in 2019.

In 2017 Planet Aid sued The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) for libel, alleging a conspiracy to interfere with Planet Aid's business over CIR's reporting on Planet Aid’s business practices and relations with Tvind. CIR compared the case to Bollea v. Gawker, saying it was an attempt by deep pocketed individuals to use the courts to silence a media outlet. In March 2021, the case was dismissed with prejudice. The court ruled that although Reveal's publications had included 46 false allegations regarding Planet Aid and other plaintiffs, who were able to provide evidence that all funds were accounted for and used for intended projects, the plaintiffs were public figures and therefore subject to a higher standard for libel. "In sum, as to the allegedly defamatory statements for which plaintiffs have sufficiently shown falsity, plaintiffs have failed to show defendants made those statements with actual malice, and, consequently, their defamation claim is subject to dismissal."