AFI Branding brings unique sustainability initiative to Australia

AFI Branding, in partnership with BlockTexx, will be launching a sustainability initiative on 1 August 2019 - the first of its kind in the Australian signage industry. The ‘be sustainable’ initiative is a fabric takeback scheme where all fabric printed by AFI Branding can be directly returned for recycling. Mimco, a long-term partner of AFI Branding, is the first retailer to join the initiative.

AFI Branding is inviting the return of printed fabrics to its headquarters in Carrum Downs, Victoria where it will be sorted and separated and provided to BlockTexx for repurposing, all within Australia. Through the program, AFI and Blocktexx aim to divert 100 tonnes of fabric from retail in the first year alone.

“At AFI Branding, we print over 15,000m2 of fabric per month. So we recognise that we have an important role to play in sustainability. After supplying the signage for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games last year, we were able to recycle many components but not all within Australia. We wanted to change this. We’ve spent a long time researching a solution and we are really excited to have created this initiative alongside BlockTexx,” says Glenn Watson, Managing Director at AFI Branding.

AFI Branding supply a range of industries within Australia including retail, events and exhibitions - Mimco, Best and Less, and Myer are among its client base. The company is confident the scheme will make a significant difference to their customers and to Australian landfill. With AFI’s client’s participation, it is estimated that over 100 tonnes per year can be diverted and is expected to rise to 300 tonnes within the third year.

Mimco is the first retail partner to join the initiative and will commence returning fabric next month with the official launch.

“Mimco has proudly been using AFI’s ReFrame system for many years now. Working towards our goal of promoting a good business journey through sustainable processes, we are proud to have worked with AFI Branding through the formative stages of this program. We are so happy that the recycling process will now be available locally and to more clients of AFI,” says Brad Poett, VM Production Manager at Mimco.

The ‘be sustainable’ initiative will work as follows:

• Client returns fabric to AFI Branding in Carrum downs, Victoria

• Fabric is sorted and separated and stored at AFI Branding

• Naked fabric is transported to BlockTexx textile waste recycling centre from January 2020 onwards

• BlockTexx S.O.F.T. process: from fabric separation, BlockTexx creates two high quality recycled materials –  (a) rPET for use in textiles, packaging, food containers, bottles and building products; and (b) powdered cellulose for use in textiles, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and food products.

BlockTexx Co-Founder Adrian Jones welcomed the partnership and said textile waste in Australia is beginning to gain the recognition it needs from government, industry bodies and forward-thinking companies like AFI Branding.

“Stakeholder collaboration is key to achieving commercial scale impact and making a real difference in diverting textile waste from landfill,” says Adrian. “We will begin processing in January 2020, and it is our goal to divert 35,000 tonnes of textile waste from landfill each year. This partnership is a big step towards achieving this goal.”