Herning and DFD do their bit to keep useable clothes in use
The clothing and textile industry accounts for almost 10% of the world's total CO2 emissions.
Recognising that this is definitely a problem that needs to be tackled, the City of Herning decided to remedy one specific issue: whenever an employee resigned or the textile service contract was taken over by a new company, the technical operations department's work clothes were thrown out.
DFD Upcy (De Forenede Dampvaskerier) is an upcycling company specialising in making clothes. It will turn a restaurant's stained tablecloth into a shirt (more practical than pumpkins into coaches).
The partnership between Herning and DFD has led to a new circular business model for the work clothing used by the municipality's technical operations department. The textile service tender signed by the two parties has been modified to incorporate this new model.
For more information on the project, please consult the following publication: Anna Hillgrén, Marika Bröckl, Mikko Halonen, Nordic best practices : relevant for UNEP 10YFP of sustainable consumption and production, Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers, 2016, pages 64-67.
- All products from DFD Upcy are designed in Denmark and made at the company's sewing studio in Lithuania by a team of 20 local women.