Turning Waste Into Woofs

Ever wondered what happens to all the waste flags and print material here at Harrisons?

Every year we print and sew thousands of metres of branded scrim for events such as the London Marathon, as well as fabric display stands for exhibitions and flags for homes, businesses, and landmarks across the UK. In the past, once it had been used this fabric would have been part of the 895,000 tonnes of textile waste that enters landfill each year.

With the aim that 100% of the fabric we print is recycled or upcycled, we decided to launch a fabric upcycling scheme. The scheme ensures that our customers used printed products and waste materials are turned into useful items such as shopping bags and dog toys by our fabulous in-house skilled seamstresses.

Many of the toys are donated to a local dog rehoming centre and charity called FLOOF (For The Love Of Our Frenchies) throughout the year or sold to the public for a small donation as part of the company’s CSR policy. We recently sent some of the donated dog toys to FLOOF and received these adorable photos back of some of their rescue dogs enjoying playing with the toys… how cute?!

Want to know more about the work FLOOF do? Head over to their Instagram here.

The fabric upcycling scheme forms part of a larger commitment to sustainability by the Group which consists of Harrison Flagpoles, the only UK manufacturer of flagpoles, Harrison EDS who specialise in quality marketing displays and Harrison Creative, the event branding experts. We pride ourselves in considering the full environmental impact of the products we sell and aim to reduce, reuse, repair, repurpose and recycle whenever possible.

Responding to the demand for greener alternatives to PVC banners, Foamex, Correx and PVC Mesh, we developed Harrison Eco™. Our eco-products are part of a much wider sustainability policy which is integrated into many areas of our business. Find out more about our Harrison Eco™ range here.

About our eco friendly flag

Harrison Eco™ Flag is made of recycled plastic and industrial polyester waste. The waste is melted down into chips, then spun into yarn that is then knitted into material. The product offers the same durability, strength and versatility as knitted polyester. It creates 75% less CO2 emissions during its production and meets requirements for the OEKO-TEX® 100 standards and is free from toxic elements.

Our eco friendly flag material is growing in popularity, as it’s so incredibly simple to switch to a greener product. Especially as there is no impact on product integrity and relatively small difference in cost. We have many customers switching from traditional knitted polyester as it’s a simple way for them to move towards sustainability. And we are also welcoming new customers who are coming to us purely to access our range of eco friendly products.