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Dubai RTA upcycles over 60,000 old uniforms, redesigns them for needy communities

Volunteers, including students and individuals with determination, creatively transformed these garments into art items using techniques such as tie-dye and block printing

Clothes for Good (Kiswat Khair in Arabic) not only prevented thousands of discarded government uniforms from piling up in landfills but also recycled, redesigned, and subsequently distributed to communities in need outside the UAE.

Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said that approximately 60,000 pieces of official uniforms were given a chance at a new life early this year. Beyond mere recycling, volunteers, including students and individuals with determination, creatively transformed these garments into art items using techniques such as tie-dye and block printing.

The initiative by RTA is being put on display at the 25th Water, Energy, Technology, and Environment Exhibition (WETEX) and Dubai Solar Energy (DSS) show that concludes on Friday.

The importance of recycling is being highlighted as the UAE will be hosting in the next couple of weeks the UN climate summit COP28.

Several studies note that the global textile industry produces 10 per cent of global greenhouse emissions, and about 85 per cent of clothing ends up in a landfill at the end of its cycle. When they break down, those clothes produce methane, a greenhouse gas that causes global warming.

Meanwhile, extending the life of clothing – even by just nine months – would reduce carbon, water and waste footprint by 20 to 30 per cent.

The annual Clothes for Good project concluded its fifth cycle early this year. It was launched in March 2018, and 20,000 RTA employees' uniforms were recycled that year. The following year, 30,000 pieces of clothes were restored with participation from various government and private agencies. Last year, 35,350 official uniforms were repurposed and donated to various needy communities and organisations.

Rowdah Al Mehrizi, director of Marketing & Corporate Communication at RTA's Corporate Administrative Support Services Sector, said the used uniforms came from RTA, Dubai Police, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, Dubai Municipality, Dubai Civil Defence, General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs, Dubai Health (formerly Dubai Academic Health Corporation), Emirates National Oil Company Limited (ENOC), Dubai Multi Commodities Centre and private entities such as Keolis MHI, Talabat, City Centre Deira, Enova by Veolia, First Security Group, Alstom, Centelec GTS Middle East Trading, and Al Mawakeb School.

She noted that the uniforms of technical staff members of different public and private entities in Dubai and RTA parking inspectors and bus and taxi drivers were retrofitted, recycled, and distributed to those in need outside the country.

"The initiative reflects RTA's corporate values of fostering tolerance and teamwork. It also highlights continuous efforts to involve diverse participants, including people of determination and volunteers from different emirates. The volunteers contributed to preparing, cutting, adjusting, ironing, and packing clothing items to fit the intended use and bring happiness to recipients," added Al Mehrizi.

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