Champion Cleaners launches 'Friends of the Environment' recycling programme

New promotional material going out to prospective customers now carries the appeal: 'Help us protect the environment through recycling'. Through the 'Friends of the Environment' programme, Champion Cleaners' customers are invited to save the clothes hangers they receive with their cleaned clothes, along with plastic bags, shoulder and tie guards, paper items, and return it to the company for recycling.

"We will take back whatever waste packaging material is saved by the customer and recycle it," said Babak Moghaddam, Operations Manager - Champion Cleaners, a subsidiary of National Trading & Developing Est. (NTDE). "The NTDE Group has operated in the UAE for more than three decades and we are committed not only to adopting best environmental practices, but also to encouraging the same," he added.

To see the full benefits of this programme, customers need to separate each category of waste (polyethylene plastic, paper, clothes hangers), and check to ensure that other objects, such as safety pins, are not included before either bringing it to Champion Cleaners stores or returning it through the delivery men.

As part of its campaign to promote its environmental message, Champion Cleaners is also carrying out an in-store level awareness campaign. This will include staff orientation and training on the programme.

"We are expecting to use between 50 to 60 % of returned hangers after quality control. The success of the programme depends largely on public support and we are counting on all our customers to do their very best to bring about a reduction in waste," Mr. Moghaddam said.

He added that the NTDE Group has partnered with a local recycling company to manage its daily plastic and paper waste. Any income generated through the recycling programme, such as through the sale of bulk plastic and paper, will be used to support charitable causes.