Train operator Northern has marked the first anniversary of its recycling deal with Avena by revealing that it has recycled over ten thousand kilogrammes of old uniforms in the last year.

A year ago, Northern signed a deal with recycling specialist Avena for the latter to shred its ‘end of life’ uniforms and turn them into ‘further life products’.

The recycling of the uniforms has saved over four thousand kilogrammes (4,364kg CO2e) of carbon emissions between May 2023 and April 2024 than if the same amount of material had been sent to landfill. 

This saving is the equivalent of:

• driving an average petrol car more than 11,159 miles
• over two thousand kilogrammes of coal being burned
• charging 288,031 smart phones.

Northern’s workforce wears tens of thousands of pieces of uniform and workwear at any one time.

Many feature Northern’s logo and so have to be disposed of in a way that avoids them being available for use by people seeking to impersonate rail workers to gain access to restricted areas of depots and stations.

Over the last year, ‘end of life’ uniforms have been collected from twenty-five depots and train crew centres across the Northern network on a regular basis.

Avena, a specialist in brand security through processes including textile shredding, clothing destruction and textile recycling, takes the items away and shreds them.

Northern has taken part in a video case study which aims to encourage other organisations with high quantities of end-of-life uniforms to recycle more.

Avena also works with other rail companies on recycling schemes, including Colas.

“Uniforms are something we have in abundance and through natural wear and tear and turnover of staff we regularly have to order-in fresh supplies.

“Knowing that we’ve sent over ten tonnes of material for recycling through this initiative – which would otherwise have been incinerated or sent to landfill – is something Northern can be proud of.”

Mike Roe, safety and environment director at Northern

“We are delighted to have strengthened and expanded on our relationship with Northern over the past 12 months.

“The recent release of our joint video project underscores Northern’s commitment to advancing sustainability goals, directly supported by the SecureBrand Uniform Recycling solution.

“Avena takes pride in securely recycling all Northern uniform in the most effective way possible, guaranteeing the recycling of all items collected resulting in complete avoidance from landfill.

“The implementation of SecureBrand across 25 Northern sites ensures branded uniform is captured, heavily reducing the risk of uniform breaches and impersonation attempts.

“We look forward to continuing securing the future of Northern for years to come.”

Elliott Garner, spokesperson for Avena