Why recycled polyester?

Almost half of the world's clothing is made from polyester and Greenpeace estimates that this will double by 2030. Even though recycled polyester has zero ecological footprint, there are still many reasons to replace conventional polyester with it.

Facts about conventional polyester

• Polyester is not a sustainable textile material.
• It is made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the most widely used type of plastic in the world.
• Polyethylene terephthalate is a derivative of petroleum and terephthalic acid.
• The production of polyester consumes the most energy of all textile fibres.
• Polyester production produces up to 9.5 kg of CO2 emissions per tonne of fibre.
• The production of polyester consumes an extreme amount of water, especially to cool the production process.

Facts about recycled polyester

• The production of recycled polyester is much more environmentally friendly.
• Recycled polyester is produced from recycled sources (PET bottles, discarded polyester clothing, other polyester waste).
• Recycled polyester is obtained by melting down existing plastic and re-spinning it into textile fibers.
• Recycled polyester ultimately prevents plastics from ending up in landfill or the ocean, giving a second life to non-biodegradable material.
• Recycled polyester is of the same quality as conventional polyester, but requires fewer resources to produce, namely 59% less energy, according to a study by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment.
• WRAP estimates that rPET production reduces CO2 emissions by 32 percent compared to conventional polyester.
• Recycled polyester can help reduce oil and gas extraction for the production of other plastics.
• Negatives: recycling cannot be done indefinitely (recycled polyester loses quality through repeated recycling), the PET recycling process also has an environmental impact (but still less than conventional polyester production).

Sustainable certification of recycled polyester

If we want to be as environmentally responsible as possible when choosing the textile materials that we produce our clothes from, we choose recycled polyester that has one of the certifications. These certifications have very strict criteria for obtaining them and usually indicate that the material is not only produced in the most sustainable way possible, but that it is also safe for our health.

The recycled polyester from which we sew our products is Bluesign® certified – this is the highest level of eco-friendliness and safety certification for textile products, issued by the world's leading inspection, testing and certification company SGS with the Swiss company Bluesign technologies. It is one of the most respected certificates. Read more about it here.

Resources: :
https://fashionunited.uk/news/fashion/how-sustainable-is-recycled-polyester/2018111540000
https://www.greenpeace.org/
https://www.bafu.admin.ch/
https://wrap.org.uk/