We live in a world of constant change, in every sense: people, companies, climate, processes, trends, concepts, etc.
Evolution is necessary and beneficial if we approach it in the right way. And for those of us who create/produce, it's no exception.
Currently, production in a company is based on a cycle where raw materials are transformed into products, marketed, and then discarded.
At GDI, we embrace the concept of Sustainability as part of ourselves. We strive to go beyond recycling and reusing materials, implementing actions in recent years to achieve a Circular Economy. In other words, produce, use, and throw away? No! Our approach is Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.
“The circular economy advocates using as many biodegradable materials as possible in the manufacture of consumer goods that can return to nature without causing environmental damage at the end of their useful life. In cases where it is not possible to use eco-friendly materials, the goal will be to facilitate easy disassembly to give them a new life by reincorporating them into the production cycle and creating a new piece. When this is not possible, they will be recycled in an environmentally responsible manner.”
Some of the principles of the circular economy that we already implement in our operation are:
Reuse: reusing certain waste or parts of it, which can still be used to make new products.
Repair: finding a second life for damaged products.
Recycling: using the materials found in waste.
But you might wonder: how do you apply it? What products contain it?
Well, a few years ago we began with the dream of contributing more and we started with research, testing, lots of testing with which we achieved extremely valuable processes that we are proud of:
Garments made with recyclable material
This involves developing garments using fabrics made from PET bottles. It's one of the most convenient ways to recycle plastic bottles and prevent their accumulation. At GDI, we produce an average of 230,000 garments annually with 50% PET, which represents the recycling of more than 688,000 PET bottles.
Regeneration
We develop new garments using fabrics obtained from recycled clothing through a circular system. At GDI, we produce an average of 68,000 pairs of regenerated trousers annually using fabrics from recycled garments.
Also within this process, through our garment destruction program designed to protect our clients' brands, as part of our care for the environment, the material resulting from said destruction is reprocessed to generate new by-products: Fabrics for carpets, yarns for upholstery, among other things.
At GDI we seek to minimize environmental impact with environmentally friendly products and processes, reducing energy consumption and improving the environmental quality of processes through good resource management.
Today, given the times we are going through, it is more important to reflect that we do not live alone; we share the same air, the same planet, and therefore, everything you or I do has a chain reaction.
This is our small contribution as a responsible company, as the GDI family, for you, for me.
Liliana Jiménez Figueroa – Senior Account Executive at GDI