Vancouver’s Debrand has turned their attention to… conference lanyards?
More than 1.5 billion people participate in business events and conferences each year, with billions of dollars spent on conference merchandise that rarely considers the product’s end-of-life path.
The next-life logistics solutions provider is demonstrating their circular lanyard project at this year’s Sustainable Fashion Forum in Austin, Texas.
Small changes like circular lanyards, which are produced specifically with the intent of reuse and recycling, can have lasting impacts on reducing waste.
This partnership with global textile recycler, Eastman, aims to demonstrate the circular textile process for the wider apparel industry by applying intentional design of conference lanyards to enable the product’s reuse and recycling at its end-of-life.
The ultimate goal is to reduce the environmental impact of conference lanyards by diverting them from landfill and protecting our planet’s resources.
“While textile recycling has been integral to our lanyard project in the past, we recognize that true progress lies in embracing the waste hierarchy,” said Lina Londono, VP of Sustainability & Solutions at Debrand.
“By prioritizing reuse, we not only reduce our environmental footprint but also foster a culture of mindful consumption and innovation. Our commitment to evolving our strategy to evergreen lanyards reflects our dedication to sustainability principles and ensures that we’re continually striving for more impactful solutions.”
RELATED: Debrand Unveils Cutting-Edge Headquarters in Surrey
Debrand will be providing evergreen lanyards designed with circular principles that will be sanitized for reuse at future events. The lanyards are 100% polyester for durability and will be collected and pre-processed by Debrand at the end of the conference. Circular lanyards that are damaged or contaminated will be recycled by Eastman.
Through Eastman’s carbon renewal technology, they can break down hard-to-recycle plastic and textile waste to its molecular level to create new products.
Founded in 2008, Debrand helps clients build systems of sustainability into their next-life operations by providing proprietary, tech-enabled sortation services that send damaged or excess inventory to the highest-value channels through our vetted network of textile resale, donation, repair, recycling, and responsible disposal partners.
This year, Debrand is projected to divert at least 1,000 tons of used textiles from landfills (125% year-over-year growth) through resale, reuse, recycling and recovery channels–the weight equivalent of 12 Boeing 737 aircrafts.
Leave a Reply