We are pleased to announce that Veolia, the UK’s leading resource management company, has been shortlisted for the 2017 Private-Public Sector Partnership Award, for their project ‘Re:Form – a new life for old uniforms.’
Veolia in Southwark partnered up with March based charity Reuseful UK in order to create the Re:Form initiative to divert old uniform and personal protective equipment away from landfill and into reuse.
The initiative has already begun to give 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 has helped 40 people get back into employment and has made a further 66 people job ready, having gained new work skills.
The Southwark and March based initiative gives redundant uniform a new life and transforms the life of the unemployed. A successful trial at Veolia’s Integrated Waste Management Facility in Southwark has been expanded to divert 10,000 items from going to landfill or energy recovery, from over 3,000 Veolia uniform wearers across London.
In 2017 Reuseful UK and Veolia aim to expand the scheme to handle 50 tonnes of corporate workwear nationally with Veolia, its partners and Clients all partaking in the scheme. Whilst also investigating how they can make de-branding less destructive along with manufacturing improvements to make materials last longer to ensure they are easier to deconstruct for more effective fibre reclamation. Veolia’s longer term aspirations are to explore product sourcing and design to bring corporate workwear sustainability into the circular economy.
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.”
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Notes to the Editor
About Veolia UK
Veolia is committed to protecting the environment and improving the lives of the communities in which it operates. Veolia has been awarded two of the UK's most prestigious business accolades for its role as an environmental and social sustainability leader. It was recognised in 2016 as Business in the Community's Responsible Business of the Year, and in 2014 it was awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development.
Veolia group is the global leader in optimised resource management. With over 163,000 employees worldwide, the Group designs and provides water, waste and energy management solutions that contribute to the sustainable development of communities and industries. Through its three complementary business activities, Veolia helps to develop access to resources, preserve available resources, and to replenish them. In 2016, the Veolia group supplied 100 million people with drinking water and 61 million people with wastewater service, produced 54 million megawatt hours of energy and converted 30 million metric tonnes of waste into new materials and energy. Veolia Environnement (listed on Paris Euronext: VIE) recorded consolidated revenue of €24.39 billion in 2016. www.veolia.com
| Contact | ||
| Jeyda Keski Tel.+ 44 (0)20 3567 2624 [email protected] |
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For more information visit us at www.veolia.co.uk or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/veoliauk.
About Re:Form
Re:Form is a project partnership between CORRNN and Reuseful UK a registered charity based in March, with funding provided by Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough LEP’s Prize challenge Fund.