IVE Group, Australia’s largest diversified marketing company, has announced it has successfully diverted more than five tonnes of uniform and corporate apparel from Australian landfill over the past two years.  

In late 2024, IVE became the first uniform supplier to become a member of Seamless, Australia’s national clothing stewardship scheme.

Seamless is on a mission to enable the Australian clothing industry to do what no single organisation can do alone: transform how clothing is chosen, enjoyed and recycled in Australia to create a circular clothing economy in Australia by 2030.

IVE supplies uniforms to clients across the retail, hospitality, security, logistics, and lifestyle sectors. Over the past two years, the group has recycled or repurposed more than five tonnes of uniforms – items no longer needed due to staff turnover, brand refreshes, or general wear and tear.

“Of course, we’re proud to have achieved this – but with the sheer scale of clothing waste in Australia, it’s just the start,” said Olivia Tyler, chief people and sustainability officer at IVE.

“We’ve got a long way to go. Our focus is on keeping materials in their highest value use for as long as possible. That means shifting how we think – collaborating with clients and industry and staying ahead of advancements in recycling and reuse to keep climbing the value chain.”

At the outset of every uniform program, IVE works closely with clients to understand their sustainability goals. This informs decisions across the entire apparel lifecycle — from fibre choice and design, to use, reuse, and recovery.

Programs are tailored to client needs, ranging from:

• Entry-level diversion – where uniforms are collected and responsibly recycled via IVE’s textile recovery network.
• Full closed-loop solutions – where garments are designed from the start for disassembly and reuse, incorporating recycled materials like rPET, organic cotton, and recycled trims.

Seamless CEO Ainsley Simpson said IVE is committed to responsible leadership and is the first uniform supplier to join as a Seamless member.

“By embedding circular thinking into its apparel programs and working closely with clients and the industry to reduce the amount of clothing going to landfill, IVE is helping to transition the Australian clothing sector towards a more sustainable, scalable future.”

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