AILEEN’S UNIFORM ATLAS
The Pulse is pleased to present Aileen’s Uniform Atlas, a recurring feature written by Aileen Out.
Out is the owner of Prettybusiness, a news blog in the Netherlands that focuses exclusively on work clothing.
More and more workwear companies are launching new projects to give their discarded clothing a second life. While this is undoubtedly a positive development, it’s not feasible for every business. Smaller enterprises, in particular, may find such initiatives costly and labor-intensive. To address this, an increasing number of organizations are offering nationwide recycling programs. In Europe, there’s even an initiative to pool resources across multiple countries.
Recycling with heat-soluble threads
Resortecs, a company specializing in eco-friendly textile design and waste management, has partnered with workwear manufacturer Sioen (focused on protective and functional clothing) to tackle the issue of workwear waste in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. Their aim is to unite manufacturers, recyclers, and government bodies to optimize recycling and make it financially viable.
Central to their efforts is a new machine designed to remove components from clothing that would otherwise block the recycling process. With a processing capacity of 3,000 tons per year, Sioen aims to launch a new workwear collection made from recycled materials. However, it’s not as simple as just purchasing an advanced machine; participating companies must use special heat-soluble threads during production. It is not yet clear what the exact costs of this are, and whether this will be cheaper in the long term than initiatives from competitors.
For businesses unable or unwilling to adopt heat-soluble threads, there are organizations that accept textiles for recycling. In Canada, companies like Debrand sort, prepare, and recycle products for reuse. Similarly, WM in Texas recycles not just textiles but a wide variety of waste materials.
Secure recycling
With so many different companies and solutions available, it can be overwhelming to decide how best to give old workwear a new life. However, workwear poses unique challenges compared to fashion garments. For instance, public service uniforms, such as police attire, require additional security measures. While parts of representative clothing might be reused without shredding, police uniforms must be handled more cautiously to prevent unauthorized reuse.
In the Netherlands, Frankenhuis Textielrecycling offers a unique solution. It’s the only recycling company in the country that provides a certificate verifying the confidential destruction of clothing. The garments are shredded separately under strict supervision, ensuring maximum security. This service is popular not only with government agencies but also with private security firms.
From production to the end of its lifecycle, safety remains a top priority for workwear—not just for employees but for society as a whole.
