Hard hat recycling will help cut landfill waste, Cadent says

Project lead Connor Weaver says the scheme is not "going to save money, but it is the right thing to do"

Hard hats, overalls and glasses are to be turned into insulation and pellets for power plants as part of a firm's efforts to be sustainable.

Cadent, which manages gas networks across England, has introduced a pilot scheme to recycle personal protection equipment (PPE) across the North West.

It will see thousands of items reused instead of being sent to landfill.

Project lead Connor Weaver said the scheme was not "going to save money, but it is the right thing to do".

The firm hopes to roll-out the initiative across its other areas of operation in the West Midlands, South Yorkshire, East Midlands, East of England and North London.

'Important step'

The pilot will see hard hats, overalls, glasses, gloves, boots and more deposited in five bins at its depots in Garston, Hollinwood, Worsley, Blackpool and Warrington.

Cadent said the idea was that the PPE would be turned "into products that can insulate homes, as well as provide feedstock pellets for power generation plants".

It added that it was "part of the company's pledge to achieve zero waste to landfill".

Mr Weaver said Cadent had "thousands of employees, who each have lots of items of PPE, that right now just ends up in landfill after it's no longer usable".

"This project isn't going to save money, but it is the right thing to do, to help us become a sustainable organisation that deals with its waste in the right way," he said.

He said the firm had "sustainability goals and we have to satisfy the criteria we set out".

"These bins can help that, as a small but important step. It's helping shift our thinking and doing the right thing."

Sustainability manager Stacey Weeks added that the company was "committed to zero waste to landfill" and initiatives like PPE recycling were "essential in helping us cut bulky items from our waste streams and deliver against that promise".