Recently, we’ve seen an increase in the number of companies adopting stronger commitments to sustainability. From going paperless to using energy-efficient tools and technology, many companies are now looking for their workwear and uniforms to become sustainable too. And why wouldn’t they? Procuring sustainable workwear helps the planet, reduces the use of plastics, minimises pollution and works towards a greener future for all of us.
Throughout this blog, we’ll discuss exactly what sustainable workwear is, why it’s important, and the benefits it can bring, not only to the planet but also to your brand as well.
What is Sustainable Workwear?
Workwear can be defined as sustainable if it is designed, manufactured, and produced in a way that actively minimises its environmental impact and promotes social responsibility. Many other things contribute to the sustainability of workwear too, such as:
- Sustainable and/or Recycled Materials: Materials that are sourced from recycled plastics and garments, or using materials that can be sustainably replaced and reused, without extensive processing.
- Reduced Carbon Emissions: Whether this is through material sourcing or transport of garments, carbon emissions from transport can be huge. Optimising the transport of goods and materials can have a huge impact on the overall sustainability of workwear.
- Reducing Waste: Much of the trims of fabrics are often wasted, or other elements of garment creation are wasteful, like the use of inefficient machinery.
- Ethical Work Practices: Ensuring workers are treated and compensated fairly for their work also contributes to sustainable workwear.
Why Is Sustainable Workwear Important?
In an age of heightened environmental consciousness, and concern over global challenges such as climate change and resource depletion growing. Organisations need to offer structured approaches to address these concerns and play a part in the solution.
There are many reasons why sustainable workwear is important. It can help to:
- Protect the Environment: The fashion industry contributes to a great deal of pollution to the environment, and the production of workwear can contribute to this problem. Sustainable workwear can help to reduce the environmental impact of the fashion industry by using recycled materials, reducing waste, and using energy-efficient manufacturing processes.
- Protect Workers’ Health: Some workwear is made with chemicals that can be potentially harmful to workers’ health during production. Sustainable workwear can help to protect these workers by using non-toxic materials and ensuring that workers are not exposed to harmful substances.
- Promote Ethical Labour Practices: The fashion industry has rightly been criticised heavily for its use of sweatshops and other unethical labour practices. Sustainable workwear can help promote the ethical treatment of workers, while ensuring workers are paid a fair wage, work in safe conditions, and have access to necessities.
Meeting Ethical Standards
We adopt a variety of sustainable practices to ensure that the production, distribution, and use of our workwear have a minimal impact on the environment, we also follow two key certifications:
ISO 9001 Quality Management:
This is a widely used international certification for quality management systems (QMS). It provides a framework for organisations like ours, to ensure we are consistently delivering products and services that meet both customer and regulatory requirements.
Our sustainability practices are recorded in our QMS and we are constantly looking at new ways we can reduce our carbon footprint and be more environmentally friendly. Through using this we also include environmental and social risks within our risk management strategy and actively work to mitigate them.
ISO 14001 Environmental Management:
This certification ensures that we minimize our environmental impact throughout the entire production process.
This involves identifying and evaluating any significant environmental aspects of our processes and products, setting environmental objectives and targets, as we’re doing with our new AutoStore system, as well as establishing documented procedures and controls to ensure our processes are meeting the environmental goals set.
Alongside these, we’ve also adopted other practices such as:
- Cradle-to-Grave Solutions: We can handle the entire workwear cycle, from design and manufacturing, all the way to repurposing and destruction.
- Recycled Materials: Plastic bottles recovered from the ocean are used in our products, and some of our products are made from entirely recycled materials, reducing our carbon footprint and the impact we have on the environment.
Explore DCC’s Range Of Sustainable Workwear & Uniform
We’ve put a tremendous amount of investment into ensuring our processes and products are sustainable. We have a large range of products made from sustainable materials, so if you’re looking to protect your team from top-to-toe, whilst also protecting the planet, then get in touch with us.
