As part of its ‘Here For NZ’ commitment and promise to be leaders in sustainability, Foodstuffs has announced its plans to recycle textile waste from its distribution centre’s uniforms and end-of-life personal protective equipment (PPE).
The cooperative is working with UPPAREL, the leading Australasian textile recovery and recycling organisation, where materials are reused, repurposed or recycled into sustainable products such as homeware and building and construction materials.
“When I first heard about UPPAREL I knew this was an opportunity for us to move to a more sustainable way of doing business. Our distribution centre is a busy place to work, and when our uniforms and PPE need replacing, we want to be doing the right thing. That’s where working with UPPAREL comes in. We can provide items like high visibility vests, fleece jackets and steel-capped safety shoes that are no longer fit for purpose, and UPPAREL will work to ensure they are repurposed into new materials,” said Andrew Reynolds, Foodstuffs North Islands Technical Facilities Manager.
So far, the partnership has diverted over 80kgs of textiles from landfill.
“We’re excited to be working with Foodstuffs North Island to help them turn their textile waste into recycled products. Having a major New Zealand company like Foodstuffs partnering with UPPAREL is a massive boost for the textile waste management initiative in Aotearoa and will make a genuine impact. As a certified B Corp, our commitment is to use business for good and to make a positive social and environmental impact for the next generation,” said Jeff Vollebregt, UPPAREL New Zealand Director.
“When we receive end-of-life items, the first thing we do is sort whether it can be reused or needs to be repurposed. If it can be reused – great, we sort it further into subcategories like men’s tops, women’s tops etc, before donating it all to charities, social enterprises and not-for-profits.
"For items that can’t be re-used, we are able to repurpose them and replace consumer and commercial products that have traditionally been made from virgin non-sustainable materials, such as polystyrene, fibreglass and cellulose. An example is a fluffy fibre we call FillUP, which can be used to make a wide range of sustainable products like cushion, jacket or quilt fill. We can further develop the FillUP fibre into insulation, sofa cushioning, and even pet beds."
