The Outwood Grande Academies Trust, including Outwood Academy Easingwold, has already saved over half a million plastic bottles from the landfill thanks to their uniforms being made from recycled bottles. Its uniform supplier, Trutex, is a carbon-neutral business and is always looking for new ways to reduce environmental waste.
The academy trust consists of over thirty academies, including twenty-two secondary academies. Students wear blazers provided by Trutex, uniforms made from fabric manufactured from recycled bottles, at each of these secondary schools. For every child who joins the school, the Trust provides them with a free uniform set, including their blazer.
The Outwood Family’s Chief Operating Officer, Katy Bradford, explained:
At Outwood, we are passionate about doing our bit for the environment and sustainability. We are delighted that working with Trutex, we have managed to save nearly 600,000 plastic bottles from ending up in landfills. Our vision is students first, and this goes beyond the classroom for us. Our students of today are the adults of tomorrow, and it’s our duty to ensure we do all we can to make sure the world they inherit is a healthy one.
How did Trutex make the eco-blazers? First, the plastic bottles are placed together in a bale, which is then broken down into little flakes. The flakes go through a de-polymerization and re-polymerization process to turn into recycled chips, which are then melted and extruded to produce yarn. Finally, the yarn is woven into the high-quality fabric that it uses to make their famous ‘Made to Last’ blazers.
Trutex’s CEO, Matthew Easter, said:
Outwood is a long-term and highly valued partner of our business and has contributed a huge amount towards the 9 million bottles Trutex save every year from landfill. We look forward to working with Outwood in the future to continue this work.
For every Trutex blazer, thirty-one plastic bottles are saved from ending up in the landfill; and since Trutex sells 300,000 blazers a year, they save 9 million bottles from the dumps. Using Trutex for school uniforms has a huge impact. Check out Trutex’s website for more information.
