Veolia and Reuseful UK shortlisted for MRW’s National Recycling Awards

Veolia, the UK’s leading resource management company and Reuseful UK a charity that supports the reuse of unwanted resources for the benefit of children and communities nationally, have been shortlisted for the 2017 Private-Public Sector Partnership Award, for their project ‘Re:Form – a new life for old uniforms.’
 

The Re:Form initiative diverts old uniforms and personal protective equipment (PPE) away from landfill and into reuse. A great achievement from this project includes soft teddy bears (pictured) that were made from reusing 200 donated sweaters from Southwark's recycling and refuse collectors. These teddies will either be sold to raise money for charity or will go into ‘Rainbow Boxes’, to bring joy and comfort to children with life limiting illnesses.
 
The initiative also proudly gives back to society with its inspirational back-to-work training scheme that has enabled over 100 people to gain new creative skills through sorting, upcycling and re-selling the donated items, as well as confidence in team-working and learning. So far this project has helped 56 people get back into employment and has made a further 82 people job ready, having gained new work skills.
 

Tricia Watson, Project Manager at Veolia says: “It is with thanks to all our partners involved that we have been successful in rolling out the Re:Form project and as a result of all our combined hard work have been shortlisted for MRWs 2017 Private-Public Sector Partnership Award. I look forward to seeing how much more we can achieve with our partnership and will carry on striving towards our goal of bringing corporate workwear sustainability into the circular economy.”
 

Re:Form partners with the Cambridgeshire Community Reuse and Recycling Network – CCORRN and is funded by Veolia and Greater Cambridge and Greater Peterborough LEP.
Veolia’s partnership followed after a successful trial which took place at the Southwark’s Integrated Waste Management Facility, where 250 people are provided with uniform to carry out their daily duties. Thanks to this trial, 10,000 items of used uniform and personal protective equipment PPE were diverted from landfill and energy recovery from 3,000 Veolia wearers across London.
 

Nikki DiGiovanni, Chief Executive Officer of Reuseful UK, said: “The Re:Form Team are delighted to be shortlisted by MRW for these awards. Re:Form is a ground-breaking initiative undertaken by tenacious, dedicated people who passionately believe that the reuse of resources goes hand in hand with providing opportunities for people to learn new skills in a supportive and friendly environment.”

 
Further plans for the project include expanding the scheme to handle 50 tonnes of corporate workwear nationally with Veolia, its partners and Clients all partaking in the scheme.
 
Veolia’s longer term aspirations are to explore product sourcing and design to bring corporate workwear sustainability into the circular economy.