Lurex partners with charities to repurpose trim waste

Lurex, a well-known yarn-making company, has been trying to find a way to recycle the leftover trim waste from their metallic threads. They have teamed up with B-Sure Recycling for a solution.

The waste from Lurex’s yarn factory in the UK is collected and taken to charity shops run by Headway in the Midlands and the North of England, including shops in Rugby and Kenilworth. At these charity shops, volunteers sort the trim waste by colors, pack them into small bundles, and sell them in the craft sections of the stores.

Headway is an organization that supports people with brain injuries. They’re happy to partner with Lurex to reduce waste and support their cause. They sell the thread trim waste during their Second Hand September campaign, where people are encouraged to buy second-hand items for the entire month of September.

Aaron Cooke, the production manager at Lurex, explains that they’ve been trying to find a way to reuse their trim waste for a while. Initially, they wanted to reduce the waste sent to landfills, but now they’re pleased that it’s helping people.

B-Sure Recycling, located in Leicester, was established by Ross Chambers, the Managing Director of B-Sure Installations in 2023. They saw the opportunity to reuse this high-quality thread instead of sending it to landfills. By working together with Lurex and Headway, they created a collection and delivery service to the charity shops.

In total, this initiative saves about 2.5 tonnes of waste from ending up in landfills each year, which is equivalent to 4,572 kilograms of waste.