Recycled school uniforms fashioned into furniture
A revolutionary small business, Worn Up, is turning old school uniforms destined for landfill into a world-first composite material to create new, useful items, with the help of a $100,000 grant from the EPA.
School students support Worn Up uniform recycling project
The Sydney family business is turning old school uniforms into school desks, stools, acoustic tiles, dog beds, furniture and more.
FABtec, the extremely durable material invented by the company comes in eye-catching colours and is used to manufacture the many different creations.
Worn-Up founder Anne Thompson said each school discards between 100-200 kilograms of non-wearable uniforms each year. She hopes to slow and eventually stop that waste.
“Between the schools and businesses, we’ve already stopped 50 tonnes of uniforms going to landfill,” Ms Thompson said.
“The $100,000 grant from the EPA’s Circulate program is a great help – it is supporting us to increase outreach to rural schools and businesses.”
EPA Organics Manager Amanda Kane said Worn Up was helping divert reusable textiles from landfill, while creating jobs in the circular economy, and reducing emissions.
“Currently 66 schools, seven Sydney councils and one regional council work with Worn-Up, including International Grammar School Sydney,” Amanda said.
International Grammar School Year 12 student Harriet Ryder said her school’s involvement with Worn Up had brought home the extraordinary amount of textile waste in Australia.
“This is a great way for schools to be more sustainable and create resources through upcycling. A lot of the time people discard their old uniform without thinking much about it,” Harriet said.
“Worn Up’s presence has made students and parents think carefully about where their unwanted uniforms might end up.”
The statistics show this consideration can really make a difference. Fast facts:
- more than 300,000 tonnes of textiles are discarded in NSW each year
- almost 240,000 tonnes are being dumped in landfill annually
- on average 23 kilograms of textiles are discarded by an Australian each year
- only 28% of textiles are recycled and re-used, which is not sustainable.
The Worn Up funding was one of 16 grants from a $1.6m pool, as part of our Circulate, NSW Industrial Ecology Program.