Midas touch

Hundreds of items of construction work wear, made redundant by rebranding and restructure, are being recycled by construction company Midas.

Midas has teamed up with the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP), a government-funded initiative which helps companies team up and swap or reuse unwanted items, to redistribute the old materials. The idea is having a positive effect on the local community too, as Faye Page from NISP South West describes: "NISP in the South West have worked with Midas to facilitate the reuse of 'old-branded' workwear and stationary by charities. Workwear is being collected by the Salvation Army and will be distributed to people in need on an international basis, whilst stationary is being collected by Scrapstores, which distributes play and arts materials to children's groups".

So far, thousands of hard hats, reflective safety jackets, and t-shirts have been sent abroad to help construction workers in developing countries to be safe. With a commitment to environmental issues and community responsibility, Midas were keen to find a way of reusing the unwanted items. Alan Hope, Chief Executive of Midas explains their motivation: "As a responsible business, Midas takes it obligations to the environment seriously...it made perfect sense, therefore, to try and recycle all our old workwear and other branded goods when we made the decision to change our corporate identity. We're delighted that Midas safety equipment will now be able to help construction workers around the world, and that we haven't had a negative impact on the environment by sending the workwear to landfill.'

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