Recycling plastic waste and turning it into sustainable fabrics and other materials is a complex business, especially in an industry where innovation is so important. We investigate plastic waste streams and experiment to invent new innovative textiles.
Innovation is key to us, and we were one of the first companies in the world to have created soft and silk-like fashion fabrics out of recycled polyester. The frequent chase for innovation and years of experience in testing and development has given Waste2wear the confidence that almost any fabric can be developed with RPET yarns.
Recycled polyester is made from recycled plastic bottles that are collected and recycled in most countries around the world. The bottles are delivered to the collection centers, where they are sorted, cleaned, shredded, and made into pellets. Pellets can be used as a raw material for many types of plastics, including polyester yarn for fabrics, also known as RPET.
By choosing recycled polyester, we’re able to deliver the same technical performance in fabric, but with a significantly smaller environmental footprint than virgin polyester does. Waste2Wear’s RPET consumes 70% less energy, 75% less CO2, and 86% less water than virgin polyester.
Using more recycled polyester fabric reduces our dependence on petroleum, the raw material our fabric needs.. Diverting PET bottles for this process reduces landfill, and thus reduces soil contamination and air and water pollution and requires less energy than virgin polyester.
Garments created from RPET aim to be continuously recycled with no degradation of quality, allowing us to minimize wastage. This means polyester garment manufacture could potentially become a closed-loop system.
Polypropylene (PP) is the second most used plastic globally, most commonly used in home and kitchen appliances, yet only 1% is being recycled. These products, such as fridges and air conditioners, often end up in a landfill.
Waste2Wear is the first company in the world to make fully certified fabrics from post-consumer recycled polypropylene (RPP). Our RPP fabrics are certified by GRS, perfectly suitable for durable shopping bags and reusable packaging. Your home appliances no longer need to die in the landfill. Read more about it.
Research & Development director Eduardo Garcia at Waste2Wear:
“There are many challenges when recycling polypropylene (PP). We, therefore, reviewed every step in the recycling process carefully and succeeded to assure not only the quality of the RPP fabric but also the safety of the material. As a result, the textile is strong, safe, and perfectly suitable for durable shopping bags and reusable packaging.”
These new non-woven and woven RPP textiles comply with the European REACH standard and are supplied with the Global Recycled Standard certification (GRS). The value chain of the fabrics is fully transparent, and backed by our blockchain technology. The blockchain records the journey of the recycling process step-by-step. This allows our customers to track each step in the value chain from plastic waste to fabrics.
To ensure a sustainable future for our planet, we need to use the resources we have available in smarter and better ways. Firstly we should reduce consumption where possible. Secondly we should reuse the products we have rather than throwing them out and buying new ones. Thirdly, we need to look at waste as a resource and recycle it.
Are you interested to explore how we could collaborate, finding solutions to take on plastic waster? Let’s get in contact.