Case Studies

Driving forward design, delivery, and sales​

Challenge

We all know that one of the biggest challenges facing the world is landfill. We need to reduce it and find solutions to it. And one of the biggest industries contributing to landfill is well documented as the fashion industry. In fact, it’s the second largest industry polluter after aviation and accounts for up to 10% of global pollution. In the UK alone a staggering one million tonnes of textiles per year is sent to landfill.

Unfortunately, corporate uniforms, workwear, and promotional apparel contribute significantly to this landfill issue. Naturally, when an employee moves on from a company, apparel won’t be on-sold or given away via second-hand retail or charity due to the branding and increasing rates of staff turnover means more and more branded apparel going to landfill. Maybe this part of the problem will be difficult to address. But it doesn’t mean solutions can’t be found to reduce the impact on the environment.

Action

In response to this growing problem, we collaborated with partners to develop an innovative solution and service where corporate customers can return used branded cotton or nylon clothing, caps, and tote bags to us to be recycled and manufactured into new apparel.

This is how it works:

We provide collection receptacles for customers which can be placed at any workplace or office for employees to discard their old workwear / promotional garments.

Receptacle(s) are collected when full and transported to a Materials Reclamation Facility (MRF) in Egypt and garments are securely shredded.

No additional duties are incurred transporting items and the Egyptian facility has full closed-loop capabilities in which shredded fabrics are manufactured into new apparel items.
Shredded products are then manufactured back into fibre and ultimately new garments in a total closed loop solution.

Any products which don’t meet the requirements for the closed loop service (dependent on the material) will be manufactured into other items such as insulation products, sound proofing, geo-textiles etc.

The cost charged to the customer is fully inclusive of the collection of the garment, shredding of materials, recycling / manufacturing into other products, and lastly a secure audit trail.
 

Impact

The outcome of our taking back scheme is that we move towards a circular economy solution, rather than branded workwear and apparel contributing to landfill. It also reduces the need for more virgin cotton being grown to manufacture new apparel.

It means our clients can be confident that every step and effort has been taken to reduce the negative environmental impact of their workwear, through detailed analysis, processes, and effective partnership with recycling facilities.

We also work with MRFs within the UK, the majority of whom turn shredded garments into cleaning cloths, upholstery and insulation products which still has a significant impact on minimising water usage and water wasted during the production of cotton3. Using recycled cotton saves 20,000 litres of water per kilogram of cotton, a water-intensive crop)4, as well as minimising the contribution of used apparel to landfill.