During the Rochester Bridge Refurbishment Project, one of the ways we pledged to reduce waste was by signing up to a hard hat recycling scheme, which we are pleased to confirm we didn’t need to use. Until now.
It may seem odd to sign up to a scheme we’ve not used, but registering was at no cost and the commitment to recycling is an important one – as important as not discarding an item just because you can. An exemplary safety record during the refurbishment meant that no hard hats were damaged during the works, and so none needed to be sent for recycling.
Everyday wear and tear has now taken effect, which means we do finally have a small collection of hats that have seen better days. These are ready to parcel up to go to the National Hard Hat Recycling Scheme, where they will begin a new life.
The hats will be completely shredded and then separated into their constituent polymer elements, which are washed, dried, melted down and filtered. The pure molten polymer is then made back into new polymer pellets – the universal raw material for all plastic item manufacturing. Which means the hard hats can be re-made into countless other items.
We are pleased our hard hats are well made and lasting well, but when they do reach the end of their life, it’s good to know there’s somewhere useful for them to go.