Image Wear and Pirkanmaan kierrätys ja työtoiminta ry started a collaboration
Image Wear and Pirkanmaan kierrätys ja työtoiminta ry (Pirkanmaa's recycling and work activities association) have started cooperation in sorting out used work clothes. Although work clothes are worn out, they are not always at the end of their lifecycle. When the look of the company's work clothes changes or an employee leaves the company, the employer is left with clothes that someone else could still use.
The recycling center sells reusable products
In the pilot project of Image Wear and Pirkanmaan kierrätys ja työtoiminta ry, the client sends the clothes and an accompanying information form to the recycling centre, where the clothes are weighed and sorted. Logo-free products suitable for reuse are donated to the recycling centre for sale. The recycling centre sells them in the Löytökellari, opened in the spring of 2023 in the basement of its Nekala office.
If the garment has a company logo or is not suitable for sale for some other reason, the recycling centre sends them in minimum batches of 1000 kg to Image Wear's Lieto location to be baled. From Lieto, the clothes are sent in 10,000 kg recycling batches to a partner who manufactures Cliff® composite products from them.
Jari Hakala, project coordinator at Pirkanmaan kierrätyskeskus, is excited about the project: "This is a great pilot project, and I hope it succeeds. I am excited when products – whether they are textiles, work clothes, or other goods – can be reused. In reuse, products can be utilized 100% and this also shows in the carbon footprint. Recycling into new materials and products is also great, but the efficiency ratio is weaker." In 2022, 65% of goods were sold for reuse. The remaining 35% were utilized as recycling material or energy fraction.
Two batches of products have been delivered so far. The first was a batch of clothes pre-sorted by Image Wear, and the entire batch went to the sales racks in Löytökellari. The latter batch was work clothes from a single large company, of which only a fraction were logo-free products suitable for sale. "We are satisfied with the sales. The products have moved nicely from the sales racks for work use, hobbyists, or even home gardeners," says Hakala.
Recycling and working life coaching
Pirkanmaan kierrätys ja työtoiminta ry was founded in 2011 and is a non-profit association. The recycling centre is involved in promoting the UN's sustainable development goals. The Agenda 2030 program guides the association's responsibility work, with goals such as:
- No poverty
- Good education
- Decent work and economic growth
- Responsible consumption
- Cooperation and partnership.
In addition to recycling goods and materials, the association is a significant work life coach. With the proceeds from the recycling stores, the association offers work, education, and coaching for partially able-bodied, long-term unemployed, and young people without work experience or vocational qualifications.
About 100 people work annually in the association's three recycling stores - in Nekala, Lielahti, and Lentola - in work trials, subsidized employment, and on-the-job learning periods. For example, environmental studies students are on work learning periods. The work tasks are diverse, including transportation, sorting, sales, finance, communication, and marketing. Some of those who have been on work trials have even been hired by the association on a contract basis after the period.