Goal: Net Zero waste disposal

Gas workers’ PPE turned into insulation

A pilot scheme has been launched by gas network managing company Cadent to recycle used PPE hard hats, glasses, boots and overalls and turn them into pellets for power plants and make insulation materials.
 
The scheme is part of the company’s aim of achieving net zero waste disposal. Currently, Cadent's workers throw away thousands of PPE equipment items which end up in landfills. 
 
The recycling project’s leader Connor Weaver said:
  
"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."
 
The pilot scheme is taking place in the North West regions of Hollinwood, Garston, Worsley, Warrington and Blackpool, but is expected to be launched in all areas of England where Cadent operates. Used PPE is placed in bins by workers before being processed in a plant that turns the waste into useful materials including home insulation fibers and pellets that are used by power generation plants.  
 
Cadent manages the UK’s biggest gas distribution network with 82,000 miles of pipes that provide gas for 11 million businesses, homes, schools and hospitals. Each year, many of its nearly 6,000 employees wear thousands of items of PPE equipment to keep them safe when working in hazardous conditions. 
 
The Cadent PPE recycling scheme is one of many in the UK which turn face masks and other PPE into usable materials that make outdoor furniture, watering cans, bins, construction materials and other products.