Since 1995, Highway Traffic Management Ltd (HTM) has been delivering vital traffic management services across the Midlands and beyond. With safety, innovation, and community impact at the heart of everything they do, sustainability has naturally become a cornerstone of HTM’s business strategy. As part of their commitment to environmental stewardship, HTM sought a partner who could securely and sustainably manage the end-of-life disposal of their uniforms and workwear.
In 2024, they found their solution with Avena’s SecureBrand® service.
Secure disposal to protect brand integrity and the environment
For companies like HTM, uniforms and workwear are more than just clothing and protective gear, they represent brand identity, compliance, and public trust. However, traditional waste management providers struggled to meet the unique requirements of safely disposing of road-worn, workwear items such as jackets, trousers, hard hats, and boots that had been contaminated with oil and tarmac.
“Multiple waste solutions were unable to take our workwear items, especially after being used on the roads, meaning we were having to just throw the workwear away, adding to landfill.” – Kayleigh Sheward, ESG Co-Ordinator
This challenge left HTM searching for a provider who could offer security and sustainability, both critical to protecting their brand, safeguarding the environment, and aligning with their sustainability plan.
Avena’s SecureBrand® textile destruction solution offered the perfect answer.
Why Highway Traffic Management chose Avena
HTM chose Avena for three key reasons:
- Convenience – Avena made it simple to securely dispose of all items under one solution.
- Capability – Avena could handle the full range of materials, regardless of contamination.
- Cost-effectiveness – The service was competitively priced without compromising quality or security.
Reflecting on the partnership, Callum Harding, Sales Executive at Avena, commented:
“We’re proud to support Highway Traffic Management with a secure and sustainable solution that truly matches their operational and environmental values. Our SecureBrand® service ensures that even complex workwear items are responsibly destroyed and where possible repurposed, helping HTM meet their sustainability goals while protecting their brand.”
Using Avena’s GPS-tracked, CCTV-monitored collection fleet and industrial-grade destruction processes, HTM’s branded and protective gear is destroyed beyond recognition, ensuring that no branded items can re-enter the public domain or landfill streams.
Tangible carbon savings: Progress towards a greener future
Through their partnership with Avena, HTM is projected to have securely destroyed 1,872 kilograms of textiles over a 12-month period, resulting in an estimated saving of 917 kilograms of CO₂e.
To put this into perspective, these carbon savings are equivalent to any of the following:
- 2,337 miles driven by an average petrol car
- 74,200 mobile phones charged
- 0.9 acres of forests sequestering carbon for a full year
These results support HTM’s wider sustainability ambitions, helping reduce their environmental footprint, divert waste from landfill, and promote a circular economy, all whilst having full traceability provided through certificates of destruction and detailed carbon reporting from Avena.
(All of our carbon emission and savings calculations are in line with the UK Government Greenhouse Gas emissions conversions, and the equivalencies are calculated from the US EPA conversions calculator.)
Aligning with HTM’s sustainability commitment
HTM’s Environmental Policy outlines a proactive approach to assessing and reducing the environmental implications of their activities. As founding members of Greener Highways, HTM is helping to drive industry-wide sustainability innovation.
By partnering with Avena, HTM has taken another significant step forward in its environmental journey, ensuring that the communities they serve today, and those impacted in the future, benefit from responsible operational practices.
“Our operations directly impact the natural and human environment, which is why sustainability is embedded into our business plan. Partnering with Avena helps us fulfil that commitment,” Matt Higgs, HSEQ Director
Leading by example in the highways sector
HTM’s work spans some of the UK’s most prestigious events, including supporting the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, showcasing their expertise in delivering safe, reliable, and innovative traffic management solutions.
Now, by tackling the challenge of workwear and uniform waste head-on, they are demonstrating that operational excellence and environmental responsibility can go hand-in-hand.
Whether managing workwear for a regional fleet or overseeing national operations, Avena’s SecureBrand® solution provides businesses like HTM with a secure and sustainable end-of-life textiles solution.
Together, HTM and Avena are paving the way for a greener highways sector, one item of uniform at a time.
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