The Story of EcoViz®
How the concept came about
The clothing industry is the second-largest polluter, consuming more energy than the aviation and shipping industries combined and contributes to around 10% of all global greenhouse gas emissions.
85% of textiles that could be reused or recycled end up in landfills or are incinerated, processes which, in themselves, pollute the planet.
In the Hi-Visibility clothing market, garments need to keep their luminosity and reflectivity in order to conform to safety standards, to ensure the wearer’s safety in hazardous conditions. Therefore, they have a limited life cycle, usually to 25 or 50 wash cycles before they need to be replaced. It is not an industry whereby you can “make-do-and-mend”, as is now becoming more popular within the fashion and sportswear industry, as the safety of the wearer would be compromised.
In recent years, there has been a real attempt to drive down pricing on safety workwear, leading to some manufacturers compromising on not only the quality of the components used but also the environmental impact.
Use of Recycled Polyesters
Introducing ECOVIZ® RP (Recycled Polyester) and a further extensive range of EcoViz® products.
Garments used in workwear and fast fashion can be repurposed into new workwear and used again. Garments that would otherwise be buried or incinerated.
To make the most environmental impact from the introduction of ECOVIZ® in 2019, the producer made the bold decision to change the fabric used on an already established range of products (the Coolviz Polo and T-Shirt Range) to EcoViz® RP, a 100% recycled polyester.
This fabric is made by taking old, discarded garments that are collected through recycling and reward schemes in stores. The recycled clothing is chopped into pieces and processed into raw polyester chips. These chips are made into polyester fibres, using a process called polymerisation. These new fibres are then used to create a complete high visibility garment, fully conforming to EN ISO 20471, the safety standard for high visibility.
The Supply Chain & Savings
EcoVis Eco Friendly Workwear
The quality of polyester derived from recycled clothing through the EcoViz supply partners, Jiaren, Japan is equal to that of petrol refined polyester. The appearance and the performance of the garments were completely matched by the new product.
Since the move to recycled polyester, almost 60,000 garments in EcoViz RP fabric have been ordered.
Compared to producing these with polyester derived from oil, this move has resulted in a cut to the carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to planting over 3,000 trees and has saved the equivalent energy emissions of powering 10 family homes for an entire year.
Moreover, thousands of garments that could have been incinerated or buried have been repurposed.
In addition to the garment fabric, EcoViz has considered the environmental impact of every aspect of the finished product; swing tickets are now attached to the product using sustainable jute string (previously plastic) whilst the information from multiple swing tickets have been consolidated into one recycled cardboard ticket.
The final product is packaged in an oxo-biodegradable plastic bag, that will decompose to ensure the packaging is not lying around for years to come.
85% of textiles that could be reused or recycled end up in landfills or are incinerated.
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