Keeping textiles from landfill

Total Uniform Solutions embodies the Buy Queensland procurement approach for its strong commitment to sustainability by saving textiles from landfill through recycling, reducing C02 and creating new opportunities for manufacturers.

They have also introduced new dissolving thread technology to Queensland. These measures have enhanced recycling, saved water, and created 28 future employment opportunities.

Integral to Total Uniform Solutions’ business operations includes design for disassembly methodology, use of SmartStitch dissolvable thread technology, a textile recycling program with a future standalone brand planned, offsetting manufacturing emissions through purchasing carbon credits, and preventing modern slavery through rigorous auditing of suppliers.

The business has 15 years’ experience supplying fit-for-purpose uniforms, workwear and accessories. Director Dean Templeman said the customer-centric business in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, was committed to sustainable and ethical practices.

'We align ourselves with clients and partners who appreciate the concept of ‘let’s keep this out of landfill’,' he said.

The business has supplied many Queensland Government agencies over the past 4 years, including providing recycled water bottles and organic bamboo socks to the Queensland Police Dog Squad.

To keep uniforms from landfill, the business launched a textile recycling program in late 2020. ​​​​Partnering with BlockTexx, Total Uniform Solutions will launch a standalone textile recycling brand later this year, making their recycling program more widely available.

By using SmartStitch dissolvable thread, which melts under special thermal conditions, it allows the efficient, cheap removal of brands, trims, buttons, zips and labels from garments on an industrial scale, enabling material recycling. This is a key innovation in their Design for Disassembly methodology, practiced at Total Uniform Solutions.

The business builds its own proprietary business software solving challenges for businesses in online uniform ordering, sizing recommendation and streamlined uniform quoting, ensures ethical practices through policies and line-of-sight production, and upskills staff through their in-house cross departmental training pathway.

Total Uniform Solutions integrates the purchase of carbon credits from the Aboriginal Carbon Foundation into its tenders, offsetting manufacturing carbon emissions while helping Indigenous communities.

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