We’re excited to announce that Monash Health is partnering with South-East Melbourne-based recycling organisation, Upparel, to run a pilot uniform recycling initiative at Kingston Centre.
Textile waste consumes nearly five per cent of the world’s landfill space and accounts for 10 per cent of global carbon emissions. Large amounts of non-renewable resources are extracted to produce our uniforms, which are generally used for a short period of time and may end up as landfill.
Monash Health recognised that there was no formal recycling or re-use process in place for our old uniforms. Our partner, Upparel, is at the forefront of the emerging circular fashion movement and aims to extend and redefine the life of unwanted textiles in a secure environment. Once an old uniform arrives at Upparel, it will be shredded into fibres and then repurposed into new products, such as:
- Children’s flip-up sofas
- Handbags
- Construction materials such as insulation
- Suspended ceiling tiles
- Office partition walls
- Cushions
- Dog beds
- Socks
The Monash Health uniform recycling initiative recently won funding as part of the Baxter Sustainability Challenge Grant. This funding will go towards the purchase of collection boxes, transporting old uniforms to the recycling facility, and processing them into new products.
Where can I drop off my old uniform?
Employees from across all Monash Health sites can drop off uniforms at any of the collection boxes at Kingston over the next 6 months. Only Monash Health uniform garments can be received, including with or without the Monash Health branding.
There are three clearly labelled collection boxes:
- link way haven hot desk area (South Block),
- meeting room outside of NW2 Ward (NW Building), and
- general services meeting room (old kitchen).
On completion of the pilot at The Kingston Centre, we’ll look to roll out this exciting initiative across all major sites of Monash Health.
To learn more about Upparel, visit: https://upparel.com.au/
For further enquiries about the initiative, contact Karla.Vaughan@monashhealth.org, Environmental Sustainability Specialist, or Louise.Cousens@monashhealth.org, Professional Practice Manager, NAMES.
Approved by Katrina Nankervis.