Cintas converts 19.5 million plastic bottles into apparel

If one lined up the 19.5 bottles Cintas recycled into apparel last year, you could follow them from Las Vegas to New York City... That's a distance of around 2,300 miles. Used with plant-based ingredients, the PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) which forms the bottles is transformed into fibres instead of being buried in the ground and causing environmental damages. So if you choose to be a Cintas customer, chances are that you have an environmentally responsible behavior too. The corporate identity clothing company has long been an actor in the eco-friendly way of doing business. Saving energy, for example, is an important concern for Cintas. By using DuPont Sorona, a renewably sourced fibre, it's 30% economy of energy and 63% reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. This represents enough electricity to supply an air conditioner for 222 years or a laptop for 1,2 million weeks of work. Another example: Cintas Coporation industrial laundries perform a 50% reduction of water use compared to home laundry and recycle 70% of wash water. The obvious goal is to reach 100%.

Acme Wiper and Industrial Laundry was created in 1929 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Farmer family business activity then was rag cleaning. Throughout the years, the company grew and diversified its services and products. Uniform rental was a big part of its development, to the point where it was deemed appropriate to develop a national network of branching, in 1968. Four years later, the company changed its name into Cintas Corporation. Today, the once small rag cleaner “designs, manufactures and implements corporate identity uniform programs, and provides entrance mats, restroom supplies, first aid, safety and fire protection products and services throughout North America, Europe and Asia”. The company employs 30,000 persons.

*Photo: Cintas Corporation