The stores have been taking worn old boots, which according to comfort and safety standards should be changed every six months, re-using the approximately three million work boots purchased each year.

"Not only have tradies really gotten behind it, some Councils around the country have also jumped on board either taking a bin to their own facilities to encourage staff to recycle, or bringing them directly to us," Totally Work Wear national sales manager Judy Ackerman said.

"Even the business community pitched in, with Toll Ipec, our freight partner, transporting the boots free of charge". Across all states, Queensland has recycled the most boots so far with 176 cartons of boots recycled to date.

Totally Work Wear Mount Isa sales assistant Janie Anderson said any old work boots were welcome to be donated to their store, as long as they were relatively clean and hadn't been contaminated.