Sustainable clothing: how Trutex is helping the planet

Trutex is the world’s first carbon neutral specialist school uniform supplier and our pledge is to continue reducing our impact on the environment, as well as making uniform that stands up to school life!

We’re committed to sustainability – from how we design and manufacture our garments to being a carbon neutral business.

 

Sustainable clothing

According to WRAP, an estimated £140m of clothing is sent to landfill in the UK every year and demand for raw materials for the textiles industry is set to triple by 2050. Attitudes are beginning to change towards fast fashion and we’re playing our part by looking to create garments that have a better impact on the planet.

All our products are “Made to Last” – a performance and ethical commitment that’s been a core part of our organisation throughout history. We don’t provide fast fashion that’s disposed of at the next season; our uniform is consistent in colour, care and construction, designed to last and is often passed to siblings or sold through second-hand uniform shops.

Trutex uniform should be grown out of, not worn out, providing more sustainable clothing and better value for parents. We have also introduced a uniform recycling programme – Re:form by Trutex, where schools can sign up to our scheme to help provide more cost effective uniform and a second hand uniform service –  find out more about reform.clothing

 

How are we reducing plastics in our clothes?

We’re pioneers in the use of polyester made from 100% recycled plastic bottles. Our certified fabric is made from yarn 100% produced from post-consumer plastic bottles, so we generate the maximum environmental benefit. While this is a more costly option than yarns containing only partially recycled materials, we believe it is the right thing to do to go the extra mile and use only 100% recycled yarns.

Our blazers, boys trousers, shorts and skirts are all made using a fabric we call “Re-vive”. Annually we “re-vive” 18 million plastic bottles in the manufacture of these garments. That would be enough bottles of water to fill four Olympic-sized swimming pools!

Each blazer uses 46 plastic bottles to produce the 100% recycled polyester fabric, along with 19 bottles for trousers and 19 bottles for skirts.

We also only use Teflon EcoElite stain resistant finish on our trousers and skirts, which is the world’s first plant-based textile repellent.

More than 90% of micro-plastics found in oceans comes from textile fibres released in the main from washing cycles. We’re doing our bit to minimise shedding of our products while retaining fabric quality and comfort.

Independent tests have shown that Trutex products shed 60% less fibre when washing compared to our main competitors, meaning fewer micro-plastics are released through the washing cycle, making their way to rivers and oceans.

 

How are we reducing plastics in our packaging?

Plastic is used widely in packaging, particularly in the clothing industry – it keeps products pristine in transport and storage. However, we’re on a mission to reduce our single-use plastics where we can and are committed to reducing their use by at least 50% by 2025.

We’ve already started this journey, and from 2021 our shirt and blouse internal packaging is now made from card or removed totally, making it 100% plastic-free.

The outer bag is also now made from biodegradable and recyclable plastic (2021 production). These changes have meant we have removed 4.5 tonnes of plastic from our packaging each year. That’s the same weight as an African elephant or around a million plastic bags!

 

You can also find ways to help re-use other parts of our packaging here.

 

What about our supply chain and business partners?

We continually improve standards throughout our business and supply chain through active membership of globally recognised organisations and organisations responsible for standards within our industry.

We’re proud to be a foundation stage member of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), a leading alliance of companies, trade unions and NGOs that promotes respect for worker’s rights around the globe. We’re also a member of the Slave Free Alliance Membership – a leading global charity working towards a slave-free supply chain.

Our logistics partner DPD aim to be the greenest delivery company on the planet and their fleet includes over 1,500 electric vehicles, helping reduce environmental impact.

 

Reducing clothing sent to landfill

We’ve partnered with Giving World, a registered charity that redirects end-of-line and discontinued stock to deprived communities both within the UK and around the world. This not only reduces the amount of clothing that ends up in landfill but also provides much needed help to vulnerable communities that may not be able to afford schoolwear. Giving World is an award-winning UK charity who can quickly and efficiently distribute items to a targeted range of vulnerable and needy people. 

We’re helping schools set up garment recycling points and offering refurbished Trutex products to parents. This extends the life of garments, which in turn helps reduce carbon and water usage by up to 30%, as well as providing cost-effective uniform for parents.

 

For further information you can read our full CSR report here.