At Recorra, we help our customers securely dispose of their workwear in the most sustainable way possible. We extend the lifespan of workwear materials and reduce environmental impact, all while protecting intellectual property rights and without compromising on brand security.
Recycling workwear can be difficult due to the often complex blends of materials used. Cotton and polyester are two material types commonly used in workwear, however, there are many physical and chemical differences between their fibres. These difference lead to issues when recycling workwear items made from these materials, as they react differently to heat, solvents and mechanical processing. Additionally, traditional recycling methods struggle to process blends efficiently without degrading the fibres quality.
While emerging technologies like chemical recycling and fibre-sorting systems are showing promise, many are still in early stages or not yet scalable for commercial use. This creates a barrier for widespread recycling of workwear, especially at industrial volumes.
Further complicating the process are specialised components which are common in workwear. Reflective strips, for example, require specific recycling processes atypical of standard textile waste. Workwear contaminated with oil or chemicals pose another challenge, as these materials can’t be recycled and must be incinerated.
Secure Workwear recycling protects your brands reputation. Distinctive workwear helps identify your business at a glance, and anything done by anyone wearing your uniform will reflect on your business, whether or not they are a member of staff.
Improper disposal of workwear presents both safety and security concerns. In the wrong hands, branded or authorised uniforms can be used to gain unauthorised access to restricted sites. For example, an ex-employee of a Derbyside Tesco branch wore his old uniform and pretended to still be employed to steal from the store.
Workwear is commonly produced from non-renewable and resource-heavy materials like polyester, which is made from crude oil. Manufacturing polyester generates significant carbon emissions and uses up a lot of water. High water use disrupts ecosystems by depleting water sources and impacting the environment and wildlife.
As climate change worsens water scarcity, it is important to reduce the demand on water sources to protect ecosystems, ensure long-term water security, and support communities.
By using Recorra to securely and sustainably manage your workwear, you are:
Diverting Workwear from Landfill and Incineration:
Your workwear is carefully sorted to ensure any items containing over 40% natural fibres are reused. This helps reduce the amount of workwear sent to landfill or incineration.
Keeping Materials in the Circular Economy
By recycling your workwear, you help keep valuable materials in use for longer, supporting a circular economy and reducing textile waste.
Reducing Demand on the Environment for New Materials
By repurposing your workwear, you help lower the need for new materials to be sourced, mined or manufactured. This conserves natural resources and reduces environmental impact.
Cutting Carbon and Protecting the Environment
By reusing and repurposing your workwear, you significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from incineration. This helps combat climate change and minimise air pollution.
We collect workwear and send it to our processing partners, who recycle textiles into a range of products:
Where recycling is not possible, materials are sent to energy-from-waste facilities. Here they are incinerated to produce energy for electricity or heating. While energy-from-waste is not the perfect solution, it produces less greenhouse gases than sending clothes to landfill.
The end destination of materials is dependent on their natural fibre content:
We are working hard with our suppliers to find even more recycling or repurposing solutions for workwear with natural fibres, polyesters and blends.
Recorra provides lockable bins to collect end-of-life workwear. The bins will be collected and replaced on an agreed-upon schedule. They are then securely transported to our service partner, where they are sorted by fibre content into Tier 2 (40% or higher) and Tier 3 (39% or less natural fibre content).
Both tiers are shredded in accordance with BS EN 15713 standards, with Tier 2 materials reused, and Tier 3 sent to energy from waste facilities. Regardless of whether clothing is recycled or incinerated, customers receive a Certificate of Destruction.
Help us transition to clothing with higher natural content through Recorra’s Workplace Supplies arm, where we offer a comprehensive range of high-quality workwear. By switching to clothes with more natural fibre, businesses make it easier to recycle their workwear, the first step towards creating a circular economy.
Natural fibres have a longer lifespan than synthetic ones, so they can be recycled more times. A longer lifespan and the ability to make repairs more easily means that clothing made from natural fibres lasts longer and needs fewer replacements.
You can find our full range of clothing at our office supplies website here.
Begin you Secure Workwear recycling service with Recorra, contact our Helpdesk today.
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