As one of the city's largest employers Townsville City Council is stepping up their game in the battle against waste, partnering with an Australian leader in textile recovery and recycling.
Mayor Troy Thompson said Council recently partnered with UPPAREL leading the charge of Townsville's large employers by signing up to divert thousands of kilograms of old corporate uniforms from landfill in the years to come.
"With more than 1600 employees across Council, the organisation will be cutting down on the number of old uniforms ending up in landfill as Council works towards its goal of diverting waste from landfill," Cr Thompson said.
"Council has a large team to deliver the services our community deserve, and with 1600-odd people on the books, we estimate there is roughly 10,000 items of Council clothing in circulation – equating to around 1000 kilograms.
"We're encouraging our staff rather than throw these items in the bin at their end of life, to drop off old uniforms and PPE, including shirts, pants, hi-vis vests, hard hats, hats, glasses, steel-cap boots, corporate shirts, pants, and skirts into one of our drop-off points."
Councillor Thompson said by partnering with UPPAREL Council was committed to keeping uniforms from ending up in landfill and give a new life to the textiles by turning them into a material called UPtex which is used for things like homewares, signage and acoustic panelling to name a few.
"We not only have four drop-off points across Council, but for unworn uniforms or those in excellent condition, we have a number of Re-wear racks across the organisation too," Cr Thompson said.
"Not only is it great to be able to divert thousands of kilograms of textiles from landfill, but this partnership highlights our commitment to transitioning to a circular economy."
Riley Aickin from UPPAREL said it was fantastic to have Townsville City Council on board as the first Queensland council to partner with UPPAREL and hopes the success of Townsville City Council and UPPARELs partnership paves the way for more councils to get on board.
"Australia has surpassed the USA to become the highest consumer of textiles per capita in the world, with each Australian disposing an average 23 kilograms of clothing to landfill each year," Riley said.
"We've partnered with some of Australia's biggest brands and businesses in the fight against textile waste, so it's terrific to see a local government join the plight to keep materials from ending up in landfill by turning them into new circular products with high-value applications."
