A TRAIN operator has recycled over 10,000kg (10,390kg) of old uniforms in the last 12 months.

In 2023, Northern announced it had signed a deal with recycling specialist Avena so that its ‘end of life’ uniforms could be shredded and turned into ‘further life products’.

The arrangement has saved over 4,000kg (4,364kg) of carbon emissions in the last 12 months (May 2023 to April 2024) than if the same volume of material had been sent to landfill.

Northern has tens of thousands of pieces of uniform and workwear in use by colleagues across the business at any one time.

Many items feature the Northern logo and have to be disposed of safely for security reasons – to avoid the possibility of items being used by those looking to impersonate rail workers and gain access to restricted areas of depots and stations.

As part of the recycling drive, 'end of life' uniforms have been collected from 25 depots and train crew centres across the Northern network over the last year.

They are taken away and shredded by Avena, a specialist in brand security through processes including textile shredding, clothing destruction and textile recycling.

To mark the first anniversary of their partnership with Avena, Northern has taken part in a video case study to encourage other organisations with high quantities of ‘end of life' uniforms to recycle more.