To-Be-Green helps decrease the number of used clothing going to landfills

To-Be-Green, a spin-off company from the University of Minho and currently virtually incubated at TecPark – Set.up’s technology-based incubator, has once again demonstrated how it can make a difference in the fight against waste. The company has assisted PreZero Portugal in giving new life to old uniforms of its employees. Approximately two tons of clothing were transformed into over 230 blankets, which will be delivered to social institutions.

To-Be-Green, based in Guimarães and a spin-off of the University of Minho, has supported PreZero Portugal in repurposing the old uniforms of its employees. Around two tons of clothing have been turned into over 230 blankets, intended for distribution to people in need through social institutions.

This Guimarães-based company, which already has a collection point in Ponte de Lima, provides an innovative solution for the valorization of clothing within the dimensions of Circular Economy and Digitalization of the Textile Industry, enabling the disposal, sharing, and valorization of end-of-life clothing through physical and virtual Social Stores, upcycling, and recycling.

With PreZero, approximately two tons of used clothing were diverted from the landfill. Following a rebranding initiative, the company proceeded to collect the old uniforms.

After the collection, about two tons of uniforms were sent to the PreZero Industriais Mortágua Unit, where they underwent a sorting process. Subsequently, they were sent to the facilities of To Be Green, a sustainability partner in this project, which carried out the recycling of these end-of-life uniforms, producing textile fibers that resulted in the creation of blankets.

“By diverting these waste materials from the landfill, we end up contributing positively to sustainability and the reduction of the ecological footprint, as we avoid extracting new materials from nature. Preserving resources and reducing the amount of non-reusable waste aligns with PreZero’s mission: A new way of thinking for a cleaner future,” explains Rui Matos, Head of the PreZero Portugal Industriais Mortágua Unit, as quoted in the company’s statement based in Porto.

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In turn, António Dinis Marques, a professor at the University of Minho and scientific mentor of To-Be-Green, a spin-off from UMinho, and with which PreZero had already been a technological partner in the disposable mask recycling project for CTT, adds that “during this process, emissions were truly saved, which is the environmental impact of the product’s life cycle.”

“In the particular case of this PreZero project, circular economy principles were applied. That is, we took what was an end-of-life waste, with no value, and incorporated it into a useful product, giving it a new life,” notes the professor.

The more than 230 crafted blankets will be delivered to social institutions for distribution to people in need.

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