Puma and a consortium of other clothing companies have come together to reveal the world's first polyester shirt made entirely from recycled textiles, according to a news release.
Polyester is a synthetic fiber, meaning that it's made from plastic. This makes it incredibly difficult to recycle. Most "recycled" polyester is made from plastic bottles, with only 1% of polyester fibers being recycled into new fibers, per the release. Instead of being recycled endlessly, most discarded polyester clothing ends up in landfills or is shipped overseas, where it is often discarded instead of reused.
But this new method could change all that. Puma and the other manufacturers involved have supported French company Carbios in developing a fiber-to-fiber biorecycling process that breaks down polyester textiles and reworks them into new fabric.
The new product Puma unveiled was a plain white T-shirt — but it represents so much more than that.
"It may look like an ordinary t-shirt, but make no mistake, the technology behind it is extraordinary," Carbios CEO Emmanuel Ladent said. "To achieve 'fiber-to-fiber' recycling is a technological feat. Carbios couldn't have done it alone, so thanks to the collaboration with our consortium partners, we have overcome many technical hurdles together to produce the world's first enzymatically recycled t-shirt made entirely from biorecycled fibres."
The shirt will be the first of many, if Puma has its way.
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"PUMA's wish is to have 100% of our polyester coming from textile waste," Anne-Laure Descours, the company's chief sourcing officer, said. "Today's announcement is an important milestone towards achieving this and making our industry more circular."
A circular economy is one in which the materials for making new products come from recycling old products, and each product is designed with that recycling process in mind. This is cheaper for consumers, and it's also better for Earth since we extract fewer resources from nature the more circular our economy becomes.
"We now need to work together to make sure we can scale up this technology to make the largest possible impact," Descours continued. "We're excited to be part of this breakthrough and setting new standards for fibre-to-fibre recycling."
🗣️ Which of these factors would most effectively motivate you to recycle old clothes and electronics?
🔘 Giving me money back 💰
🔘 Letting me trade for new stuff 👕
🔘 Making it as easy as possible ⚡
🔘 Keeping my stuff out of landfills 🗑️
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
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