AUCKLAND, Wednesday: NZME has launched a sustainable fashion-forward partnership with women’s fashion chain Ruby through Liam Patterns.
NZME and Ruby set out to create “a circular solution”, turning wastepaper from the end of newspaper print rolls from NZME’s Ellerslie printing press plant into printed patterns under Ruby’s Liam Patterns brand.
NZME chief operations officer Matt Wilson said: “The new partnership highlights the sustainability journey both companies are on, as they look to incorporate new ways to support environmental awareness and sustainability.
“The newsprint reels have unusable paper offcuts usually sent to be recycled, but this new partnership means the paper is given a second life.
“This collaboration is unlike anything we have done before at NZME and we are thrilled to be working with Ruby to create a sustainable solution, using our wastepaper.
“As a business, NZME is on an ever-evolving journey when it comes to our own sustainable practices.”
“At Ruby we use it when cutting samples, to print markers that our cutters lay on top of layers of fabric to cut bulk production.”
NZME will put aside an allocated quantity of its reel ends for Ruby, which will then be taken to the Liam Patterns printing facility at Ellar Graphics for production. An average of 50-60 metres of newsprint is able to be utilised from each reel end roll, meaning approximately 18-20 patterns will be created per roll.
Ruby GM Emily Miller-Sharma said the newsprint reel ends from NZME’s printing facilities stood out as the perfect opportunity to give wastepaper another life.
“The potential of this collaboration is huge! Most of the clothing industry that makes things in New Zealand (whether it is samples or bulk production) use newsprint,” she said.
“For example, at Ruby we use it when cutting samples, to print markers that our cutters lay on top of layers of fabric to cut bulk production. How much more waste can we divert? And what could be the overall drop in demand for new production?” she says.
Louise Nash, ceo and founder of Circularity and co-founder of XLabs, Aotearoa’s circular economy lab, says the circular economy has moved well beyond a niche topic, to become an undeniable necessity for the world where we design out waste and pollution, keep materials in use and regenerate our living systems.
“We are thrilled to see Ruby, one of our XLabs circular economy lab 2020 alumni, continuing to innovate again and again by using circular principles to unlock new value and working across the economy to reduce our collective impact on the natural world.
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