Hitches & Glitches has taken sustainability to a new level this month, as we’re proud to introduce our brand new, 100% recycled uniform polo shirt for our team.

Made purely from recycled plastic bottles that are used and recycled by us, our employees have started wearing this innovative, environmentally friendly shirt when out on the job. And the best part? The shirts are a performance fabric that whisks away moisture, ensuring they are kept cool and dry while attending to all your needs. Plastic really does feel fantastic.

Each polo shirt is made from six old water bottles that contain ‘rPET’ or ‘recycled PET’, which is best known as the clear plastic used for water and soda bottle containers, and is 100% recyclable. The polo shirts are manufactured by DGrade, which supplies the highest quality eco-friendly products that are made from recycled plastic bottles (rPET). To date, we’ve diverted nearly 4,000 rPET bottles from the UAE’s landfills and turned them into our pioneering sustainable clothing range. By year-end, we aim to have 90% of our uniform collection (excluding specialist clothing) to be made out of rPET bottles.

Did you know, according to DGrade, that:

  • The UAE has the fourth highest consumption rate of bottled water per person in the world;
  • The country produces more than 2.75 billion rPET water bottles every year;
  • Producing yarn from recycled plastic uses 50% less energy compared to manufacturing virgin polyester yarn, and results in 55% less carbon emissions;
  • Currently, less than 6% of plastic is recycled in the UAE;
  • 50% of camel deaths in the country are attributed as a result of plastic ingestion.

In addition, we’ve also installed new recycling bins in our Al Quoz Head Office and employee accommodation blocks, to encourage ongoing recycling and plastic collection amongst the entire team. The plastic bottles that are collected will be turned into yarn and used to manufacture more shirts.

As a leading home maintenance company in Dubai, we have sustainability at the core of our business strategy.  We are proud to be putting plastic waste generated by our own employees to good use, and lead the way in sustainable clothing in the home and office maintenance industry.