Its alter-ego, recycled polyester, or rPET, is made from polymers obtained by melting used plastic bottles and transformed into textile fiber . Did you know that every minute, nearly 1 million plastic bottles are purchased around the world? 3 Even if recycled options allow a reduction of emissions compared to the virgin options, we know that it’s not the definitive solution to pollution from synthetic fibers : rPET’s mechanical recycling process significantly reduces the material’s quality and unfortunately very few clothes are recycled back into textile use and the majority of wasted polyester garments are still in the landfills. Also rPET is not biodegradable and lose microplastic fibers as much as virgin plastic.
1 Sustainable Apparel Materials 2015 (https://matteroftrust.org/wp- content/uploads/2015/10/SustainableApparelMaterials.pdf) 2 (Environmental Sciences Europe (2021) Analysis of the polyester clothing value chain to identify key intervention points for sustainability) 3 The Guardian
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