Omexom reducing landfill waste with recycled PPE

Omexom New Zealand is taking a significant step towards sustainability, addressing environmental concerns and reducing textile waste by sending its used uniforms and PPE to Upparel for recycling.  UPPAREL is a company which operates in New Zealand and Australia, and takes textile waste and recycles it into sustainable resources.

Textile waste is under the microscope, as most unwanted clothing in New Zealand ends up in landfill.  Corporate uniforms and old PPE too often end up in landfills, adding to the growing problem of textile waste and shrinking landfill capacity.

Upparel reuses, repurposes, and recycles 100% of the textiles it receives. Upparel turns them into sustainable alternatives to materials such as polystyrene, fibreglass and cellulose.  The Upparel process, not only enables the recycling of old textiles, but the end products are completely circular, so they can be recycled and reused endlessly.

Omexom’s old PPE will be turned into pillow stuffing, wadding for quilts, wall and ceiling insulation, acoustic panelling, foam and most importantly, the stuff for dog beds! Omexom is sending our PPE and uniforms that are at the end of their life, unable to be reused. As a start, in October of 2023, Omexom sent our first load of PPE, weighing 30kgs!  Through this process, Omexom hopes to divert approximately up to 2,000kg of old garments from  landfill.