Cintas Partners with Non-Profit to Recycle Textile Waste

Uniform producer Cintas Corp. is partnering with the non-profit organization Know Hope to provide unused material to be recycled into bags sold to raise charity funds for third-world nations.

Cincinnati-based Cintas will provide the unused material from its production to the Cincinnati-based Know Hope, which will use it line reusable burlap bags sold by the charity. Funds from the bags will be used to purchase products and provide services to poor families in Mexico, Haiti and Guatemala, according to a news release.

More than 5 million employees go to work daily in a Cintas uniform. The material from one work uniform can be used to line each Know Hope bag.

Know Hope produced about 4,300 bags and 2,500 smaller accessories last year.

“The average U.S. citizen throws away 70 pounds of textiles each year, but corporations also have a responsibility to help divert this waste from landfills,” said Melanie Boyle, manager of sustainability with Cintas. “This partnership is a win-win because we’re supporting a local non-profit in their mission to make the world a better place while maintaining Cintas’ commitment to both sustainability and being a good corporate citizen in the communities in which we do business.”