Northern Trains announced their collaboration with recycling specialists Avena in 2023, so that it\u2019s \u2018end of life\u2019 uniforms could be recycled into \u2018further life’ products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Twelve months on, they have recycled 10,390kg of old uniforms and saved over 4,000kg of carbon emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alex Fay, an Energy and Environment delivery manager at Northern Trains who worked on the project, said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are definitely happy with the Avena process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Over ten tonnes of waste that would have been otherwise ended up in incineration or landfill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It is great to know that this waste has now, instead, been recycled.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This recycling initiative comes after the government set targets to increase Northern\u2019s recycling rate to 70%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Fay said that the environmental team are always looking at what materials are being thrown into general waste that can be recycled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tens of thousands of PPE and uniform are distributed to colleagues, so uniforms were a \u2018sizeable chunk\u2019 of waste that needed to be addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The \u2018end of life\u2019 uniforms have been collected from 25 depots and train crew centres across the Northern network on a regular basis over the last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The items that featured the Northern logo were taken away and shredded by Avena, a specialist in brand security throughout processes including textile shredding, clothing destruction and textile recycling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The destruction of the branded uniforms was to avoid items being used to impersonate rail workers and gain access to restricted areas of depots and stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elliot Garner, a spokesperson for Avena, said: \u201cAvena takes pride in securely recycling all Northern uniform in the most effective way possible, guaranteeing the recycling of all items collected resulting in complete avoidance from landfill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe implementation of SecureBrand across 25 Northern sites ensures branded uniform is captured, heavily reducing the risk of uniform breaches and impersonation attempts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe look forward to continuing securing the future of Northern for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Northern Trains are currently focused on recycling uniforms from train crew and engineering staff, but are looking to expand to train station workers themselves, specifically retail staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most challenging progression to this scheme that they are looking to change is recycling customer waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The train operator is facing logistical challenges with expanding their sustainability project because of so many locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n