Prisma fights textile waste by renting workwear

Prisma Peremarket is a well-known grocery retail brand in Estonia and Finland. Prisma offers customers ingredients for cooking dinner, alongside products like bicycles, coffee machines, and quality books—all in one visit. The Estonian team at Prisma, with over 700 employees, works daily not only to make shopping easier for customers but also to lighten the burden on our planet. 

Of course, we also demand environmentally conscious action from our partners. One such partner is the textile rental company Lindström, which ensures that our employees have clean and comfortable workwear to wear every day. Just as important as the workwear itself is what happens to our workwear when our employees can no longer wear it – we must, under all circumstances, prevent it from becoming textile waste.
Maren Penu, HR Director at Prisma Peremarket

Workwear built for comfort and functionality

Maren Penu, HR Director at Prisma Peremarket shares that Prisma places very high demands on workwear. The most important thing is that the clothing is comfortable, breathable, and that employees feel good in it. Employees work in varied conditions, requiring workwear like shirts, fleeces, and jackets in all sizes.

“It’s also important that materials and detergents are allergy-friendly,” says Maren. She adds that proper workwear makes employees easily recognisable in the store, so customers know who to turn to with questions. 

“Everyone wants to feel good at work. To achieve this, they must feel that their workwear fits them well and that they look good in it. Therefore, it’s important that the cuts of the workwear are attractive and suitable for all body types,” explains Maren Penu.

Making workwear management simple and efficient

According to Maren, one crucial aspect of Lindström’s rental services is that there is always a clear overview of the use, maintenance, and related costs of the workwear and the mats ordered from Lindström. 

She highlights the eLindström platform, which provides real-time insights into garment usage, washing frequency, and order management. Seasonal adjustments to clothing and mat requirements are easy to manage, allowing for better forecasting and cost monitoring costs. 

A few years ago, each Prisma employee had their own locker and personal workwear. However, since this resulted in a large number of garments remaining unused, Prisma switched to shared clothing. Now, employees can easily access these garments in communal lockers sorted by size. This change has allowed them to keep significantly fewer garments in stock, while still meeting employees’ needs with an even wider selection. Store representatives can adjust the quantity of workwear sets in the order as needed. Maren shares that the available workwear collection allows for quickly assembling sets for new employees, with garments arriving promptly.

A trusted partnership since 2000

After years of success with Lindström in Finland, Prisma continued this collaboration upon entering Estonia in 2000. The Estonian team is pleased with the smooth operation of the service. Lindström ensures stores always have enough workwear in all sizes. Once a week, Lindström takes the used garments for washing and brings back clean ones. Maintaining hygiene and a tidy appearance is crucial for the employees, especially those working with food. Lindström’s laundry processes make sure that garments are always tidy.

End-of-life workwear finds new life through recycling

Prisma values employees’ appearances and avoids visible stains or repaired patches on workwear. To ensure that the clothes last as long as possible, Lindström replaces buttons, zippers, and snaps on workwear when necessary and can replace a torn sleeve or pocket with a new module.

It is extremely important for us to make sure that our old work clothes do not end up in landfill or incineration. That approach would not be in line with our environmental principles at all. We are very pleased that old Prisma workwear finds new life as insulation material, soundproofing panels or even as new textiles.

Maren Penu, HR Director at Prisma Peremarket

Additionally, people with special needs repurpose old Lindström sheets into shopping bags that can be purchased at Prisma in Rocca al Mare, creating both environmental and social value. Read more about the project in Estonian here.

Excellent customer managers help Prisma succeed

According to Maren, one key element of good cooperation between Prisma and Lindström is an excellent customer manager who constantly monitors the store rental service, suggests ways to improve efficiency, and shares information about new opportunities.

“They notice bottlenecks and suggest solutions. For example, instead of letting us pay rent for clothing sets sitting on the shelves unused, she suggested we return them so that we use the service in the most optimal way possible. Thanks to our key account manager, we also know more about how Lindström reduces our environmental footprint by meeting its sustainability goals. Such a trusted relationship is a value to keep,” adds Maren Penu.

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