Arco has been awarded the prestigious Recycled Product of the Year Award for its responsible hi-vis line created to tackle excessive waste.

The safety products and services company won the award, which requires a product to exemplify the best of sustainability, at the 2023 MRW National Recycling Awards.

Through a partnership with polyester recycling company, Stuff4Life, Arco's new range of hi-visibility garments are designed to last longer, made from certified recycled and responsibly sourced materials, and developed with end of life in mind, focusing on the recyclability of materials. 

Once a garment comes to the end of its life, it can be recycled using Stuff4Life's patent-pending chemical recycling solution, with the recovered materials from the recycling process becoming valuable raw materials that can be transformed back into new polyester yarn for garment production over and over again. Arco is committed to embracing circularity as a signatory to Textiles 2030.

Dalvir Sarkaria, product and procurement manager, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded Recycled Product of the Year for this range. This is an incredible achievement for Arco under our own brand and further enhances our focus on working towards a circular approach to product development.”

Jim Harbidge, head of sustainability at Arco, said: “This award confirms our view of a future where the value of textiles is preserved through the process we have developed.  

“As we and our customers begin to move away from thinking about these items as disposable, we have been able to incorporate other aspects of design to offer comfort, durability, recycling ease and of course lower life-time costs. 

“Our aim is to make the most sustainable items also the lowest cost choice. Our new range is already available to customers who are working with Arco on their journey to circularity."

John Twitchen, co-founder of Stuff4Life, said: “This award is the result of all the hard work and commitment Arco has made in developing these exceptionally well-designed products. Nearly 90% of the 33 million workwear items provided to workers annually currently end up in landfill [according to Environment Times] or are incinerated but this workwear range is fit for the future, a future where materials have multiple usages and longer lifecycles. 

“We’re pleased to have played a role in challenging conventions and championing change, and, of course, we look forward to recycling these fantastic products back into new stuff when they have served their purpose.”