Textile waste recycling
We’ve been looking for a good home for our end-of-life branded clothing – a closed loop solution that keeps it out of landfill and produces a product that we can use on our sites.
We put our heads together with Bob, Ben and Tim from Textile Products, who are experts in repurposing textile waste like uniforms, carpet and insulation to create a range of products.
The solution is RETEX, a recycled textile mat made from our uniforms and other textile waste that we can use to protect materials, surfaces and edges from the knocks and dings of life on a building site. It replaces the non-recyclable corflute sheets and pool noodles that we have been using.
What makes it even better is that we can send it back to Textile Products to make more RETEX over and over again, which means it will never end up in landfill.
Finding innovative solutions for the 180,000 tonnes of clothing, uniforms, and textile waste that’s dumped in NZ every year has been a passion of mine for a very long time. It’s great to be able to work with a leading construction company who are equally passionate about creating a more sustainable pathway for textile waste. Watch this space for more closed-loop textile solutions!
Bob Willis, Textile Products
