There are already functional business strategies to tackle plastic debris in the oceans and products which can minimize the impact of each plastic released in the seas.
One of the examples in the textile industry are polyester filament yarns made out of recycled plastic bottles. 48 PET bottles with a capacity of 1.5 L are used to produce one kilogram of DIOLEN®ReCIRCLE yarn. These bottles are gathered and ground under socially responsible conditions. This produces pellets which are then spun into polyester filament yarn, without compromising the quality.
- An average football player’s full gear could be taken as an example: football socks weigh approx. 5 g, or about 0.24 PET bottles, shin pad inner socks weigh 200 g (e.g. 9.6 PET bottles), the mesh topping of shoes add 100 g (4.8 PET bottles), shirt and shorts weigh around 340 g (16 PET bottles) and finally a drying microfibre towel equals around 11 PET bottles. Overall, this recycling process saves approx. 800 g of polyester yarns and prevents 37 PET bottles from ending up in the aquatic environment.
- Recycling PET materials requires up to 53% less energy than virgin production; CO2 emissions are reduced up to 54%. This correspond to around 16 Kw and 5 g of CO2 saved per gear of a single player.
- The company produces in a single plant in Germany which reduces transport and carbon footprint. The company operates its own water treatment plant and uses an energy/ environmental management system which tops up the norms set by national legislation.
- Storing raw material separately and having a separate process to avoid mixing virgin and recycled polyester.
- Need for specially developed filter system to increases the quality of raw material.
- Separate, more intense quality measures to reach comparable processing properties, fastness and textile specifications due to more challenging raw material.
- Extra efforts to ensure socially responsible sourcing; currently there is no label addressing both supply chain traceability and social matters (e.g. child labour, fair wage etc.).
- Currently the market does not accept slightly higher price levels resulting from additional testing and extra efforts needed to ensure socially responsible origin of materials.