A new approach to dealing with your worn-our workwear uniform

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Posted by David Wilton on 10/11/2022

Environmentally friendly options to disposing of used work clothes

It’s well known that the clothing industry (more fast fashion than uniform and workwear) is environmentally bad. Not bad for the planet but bad for humanity and all other living species. The planet does not care what you do with it, it will survive. Our survival, however, is in more doubt.

So instead of chucking your used and unwanted workwear in the bin there are better ways to dispose of it.

Hubbub, a UK foundation which aims to empower companies and individuals to take environmentally positive action, has stated that 29% of people wear a uniform in the UK. Branded uniform offers professionalism and quality. What do you do with company branded clothes when they are no longer suitable, damaged or off brand? Not knowing how branded uniforms can be disposed of responsibly can have an impact on the environment.

It is thought somewhere in the region of 33 million items of corporate workwear clothes are provided each year and around 90% of them are sent to landfill sites when no longer wanted.

Corporate clothing can be repurposed and reused in the following ways: Garments that are unbranded, clean, and undamaged can be donated to a variety of deserving charities. There are now the facilities to securely recycle garments that have been branded. There are a growing number of operations starting that specialise in textile shredding services for corporate workwear and uniforms. Branded workwear could potentially be used to impersonate staff and cause harmful consequences so a uniform shredding service could protect your business as well as reducing the impact on the environment.

How Does Uniform Shredding Work? Uniforms sent to shredding companies for destruction are shredded beyond recognition and baled at a high security facility or in a mobile shredding unit where you can witness your uniforms being securely destroyed. The bales of shredded uniform are sent to a waste-to-energy plant, where solid waste is converted into energy and the remaining ash is recycled as a mixture of ash and secondary aggregate. This by-product is used in construction. Alternatively, they can be shredded into rags, cloths, or insulation. Shredding branded uniforms and corporate workwear is an environmentally friendly, zero-to-landfill process.

If you’d like to talk to us about disposing of your used workwear please call Mark or David on 020 8991 1800 or chat to us online or email at sales@corporateclothingwear.com.