Sustainability

Connecting with our Planet, our People and our Community

At Alsco Uniforms, sustainability is our guiding principle. We recognise that becoming a sustainable business is about connecting with our People, our Planet and our Community. 

It’s about looking after those less fortunate, sourcing products ethically, minimising waste, caring for our customers and employees and just generally doing good work and doing the right thing.

Our Goals

We have created 4 Big Bold, meaningful goals to reach by 2030. We’re committed to working with our customers, our employees, our suppliers, and the community to create positive change and build a sustainable future.

  •     Diverting textile waste from landfill via Blocktexx
  •     Progressing to meet National Packaging APCO Targets to remove, reduce, and ensure all packaging used is recyclable
  •     Energy Efficiency has improved 3.6% year on year, saving enough energy (9.61 GWh) to power 1,697 Australian homes annually
  •     Carbon Efficiency has improved 5.9% year on year, abating enough carbon (3,707 tCO₂e) to take 1,824 internal combustion cars off the road
  •     Water Efficiency has improved 7.1% compared to the 2018/2019 baseline, saving enough water (64,750 kilolitres) to take 1,178 7-minute showers or fill 26 Olympic-size swimming pools
  •     National & Branch Specific Community Initiatives

Our Commitment to Ethical Sourcing

At Alsco Uniforms, sustainability goes beyond being environmentally friendly. It’s about fostering connections with our planet, our communities, and the people we work with. As Mark Roberts, our Group CEO, puts it, “It’s about looking after those less fortunate, ethical sourcing, waste minimisation, and doing the right thing.”

We take pride in our internal supply units, Deane Apparel and Australian Linen Supply, which responsibly manage our textile supply chain, including sheeting and towelling.

Adam Bohman, General Manager of Australian Linen Supply, emphasises our dedication to building long-term, meaningful relationships with our suppliers to promote sustainable practices.

Our Ethical Standards:

  • We ensure compliance with international regulations against modern slavery and promote ethical behaviour throughout our supply chain.
  • We conduct independent audits of our supply partners to uphold the highest standards regarding working conditions, child labor, discrimination, and overall worker rights.

Our goal is to create a sustainable future while supporting fair and ethical practices within our industry.

An Alsco Uniforms employee putting away hygienic uniforms into locker. He is smiling.
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Towelling Production

Supporting Continuous Improvement

During our recent visit, we focused on several key initiatives at our Towelling Factory in Pakistan:

  • New Wastewater Treatment Plant: Enhancing our environmental sustainability.
  • Advanced Dye Machines: Reducing water consumption in the production of Alsco Uniforms Towels by 30%.
  • Solar Energy: A 473KW solar panel system is now operational, contributing to our renewable energy efforts.
  • Community Support: Collaborating with the Green Crescent Trust on water quality improvement projects in Sind and supporting the SMA Rizvi Textile Institute.

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Sheeting Production

“Our job is to manage the continuity of supply of the agreed items made to the agreed specifications. We choose to support businesses aligned with our values, focusing on protecting our customers’ brands. We assess cost, quality, reliability, and the extent to which suppliers do the right thing for the community and the planet.”
Adam Bohman, General Manager, Australian Linen Supply

Alsco Uniforms Team Visit to Sheeting Factory in Pakistan
Supporting Continuous Improvement

During our visit, we focused on key initiatives to enhance our sustainability efforts:

  • Sustainability Journey: Advancing our initiatives with a current focus on gender equality, Better Cotton initiatives, and the TCF Foundation, which provides free education and meals in remote and rural areas.
  • Quality Assurance: Our lab generates reports for all orders, including product inspections and carton markings, ensuring that Alsco Uniforms fabric meets AS3789.6-1996 testing standards.
  • Recyclable Materials: We are actively reviewing options for Alsco recyclable polybags and polybags made from recyclable materials.

Image: Lab team members Kurt Petherbridge, Jodie Nicholls, and Haris Murtaza reviewing the Alsco Sheeting Lab Report

Image: Facility where Alsco Uniforms Sheeting is produced

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Alsco Uniforms & BlockTexx Partnership

To tackle waste management, Alsco Uniforms have put together a working group on packaging who are collaborating with the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) to make all our packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025. The group is made up of representatives from our Alsco branches and business units, Australian Linen Supply (ALS), Clean Room Garments (CRG), Deane Apparel and Fresh & Clean.

The group is committed to ensuring the packaging we source from our suppliers and pass onto our customers is cost-effective and ethically sourced.

APCO Performance Summary

The chart below indicates Alsco’s performance against each of the Packaging Sustainability Framework criteria in the 2022 APCO Annual Report.

Each row represents a performance level with the green indicating our level of performance for each.

Governance & Strategy
Design & Procurement
Recycled Content
Recoverability
Disposal Label
On-site Waste
Problematic Materials

Disposal Labelling | This criteria considers the extent to which packaging has been labelled to help consumers determine what to do with packaging at end-of-life.

On-site Waste | This criteria considers progress in increasing the amount of on-site solid waste being diverted from landfill.

Problematic Materials | This criteria considers the extent to which organisations are actively phasing out problematic and unnecessary single-use plastic packaging and preventing/reducing litter.

Governance & Strategy | This criteria considers actions to integrate packaging sustainability into business strategies.

Design & Procurement | This criteria considers actions taken to ensure that sustainability principles are considered in the design or procurement of both new and existing packaging through use of the Sustainable Packaging Guidelines (SPGs).

Recycled Content | This criteria considers actions taken to increase or optimise the amount of recycled material used by your organisation.

Recoverability | This criteria considers actions taken to improve the recovery of packaging at end-of-life and increase use of reusable packaging.

Alsco Uniforms are foundation partners of BlockTexx

We are currently working on new textile initiatives such as garments made from recycled polyester and are in the process of re-designing all their staff uniforms, which will be made from recycled fabric.

We are engaged with the services of Wasteflex, a National waste management company who will be working with the all Alsco branches to review our recycling services and implement improvements to the way we reduce, reuse, recycle or compost waste.

Alsco Uniforms are working with three national community partners to help improve the lives of people who need our support.

​​​​​​​Orange Sky provides a free mobile laundry and shower service to people experiencing homelessness. Their aim is to positively connect communities, improve hygiene standards and restore dignity to people doing it tough in our community. Most importantly, Orange Sky volunteers have engaged in hundreds of hours of conversation with people using their services. Their volunteers aren’t social workers or experts on homelessness but empathetic listeners and great conversationalists.

​​​​​​​Our ongoing support will help Orange Sky reach their goal of helping more than 40,000 people by 2025, tripling their current support and doing it twice as effectively.​​​​​​​

WHOS is a therapeutic program aimed at achieving recovery from drug and alcohol dependence, incorporating harm minimisation and co-existing mental health initiatives. ​​​​​​​

They also integrate other services such as supported transitional housing, pre-employment skills training, access to educational programs and services as well as specialist services including medical, mental health and drug and alcohol services. Currently, more than 2000 assessments are conducted annually and approximately 800 clients are admitted each year.

​​​​​​​In addition to the donation of a defibrillator to their Goulburn site, we are helping WHOS through donations of bed linen to people starting new lives after successfully completing their program. By donating our products to WHOS, we are making a difference to those people and their families affected by drug and alcohol dependence.

Two Good Co is a social enterprise supporting vulnerable women across Australia. Since its humble beginnings as an organic soup kitchen in a church in Kings Cross, Two Good Co has expanded to sell restaurant-quality food, cookbooks, personal care products and apparel. Their ‘Buy one, give one’ model means that proceeds from the purchase of every Two Good personal care product goes toward training and job placement services for women across Australia who find themselves living in homeless shelters because of domestic violence.  ​​​​​​​

In addition to giving donations to this incredible organisation, we are offering support by providing employment opportunities for domestic violence survivors and are also exploring opportunities to use their catering services.  In this way we are helping restore dignity and give hope to thousands of vulnerable women in our community.

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