Hull-based Arco has been awarded the prestigious ‘Recycled Product of the Year Award’ at the 2023 MRW National Recycling Awards for its ‘Responsible Hi-Vis’ clothing range.
The products have been created to tackle excessive waste in a niche and difficult-to-recycle segment of the clothing industry.
The ‘Recycled Product of the Year’ category called for products entered to show the best of sustainability, and have been designed with careful consideration of resources and incorporate recycled content.
Through a partnership with polyester recycling company, Stuff4Life, Arco’s Responsible Hi-Vis garments are designed to last longer, made from certified recycled and responsibly-sourced materials, and developed with end of life in mind, focusing on the recyclability of materials.
Once a garment comes to the end of its life, it can be recycled using Stuff4Life’s patent-pending chemical recycling solution that’s currently in development, with the recovered materials from the recycling process becoming valuable raw materials that can be transformed back into new polyester yarn for garment production over and over again.
Jim Harbidge, Head of Sustainability at Arco said: “This award confirms our view of a future where the value of textiles is preserved through the process we have developed. As we and our customers begin to move away from thinking about these items as ‘disposable’, we have been able to incorporate other aspects of design to offer comfort, durability, recycling ease and of course lower life-time costs.
“Our aim is to make the most sustainable items also the lowest cost choice. Our new range is already available to customers who are working with arco on their journey to circularity.”
John Twitchen, Co-Founder of Stuff4Life said: “This award is the result of all the hard work and commitment Arco has made in developing these exceptionally well-designed products.
“Nearly 90 per cent of the 33 million workwear items provided to workers annually currently end up in landfill or are incinerated, but this workwear range is fit for a future where materials have multiple usages and longer lifecycles.
“We’re pleased to have played a role in challenging conventions and championing change, and of course we look forward to recycling these fantastic products back into new stuff when they have served their purpose.”
