PET is Polyethylene terephthalate is the most common thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in containers for liquids and foods. Think Plastic water bottles. The majority of the world's PET production is for synthetic fibers (in excess of 60%), with bottle production accounting for about 30% of global demand. In the context of textile applications, PET is referred to by its common name, polyester.

In 2016, it was estimated that 56 million tons of PET are produced each year. PET bottle recycling is more practical than many other plastic applications because of the high value of the resin and the almost exclusive use of PET for widely used water and carbonated soft drink bottling. PET has a resin identification code of 1. The prime uses for recycled PET are polyester fiber.

Unlike polyester, recycled polyester uses PET as the raw material. This is the same material that is used in clear plastic water bottles, and recycling it to create the fabric prevents it from going to landfill. The steps involved in the production process are as follows.

The empty PET packaging is discarded by the consumer, after use and becomes PET waste.

1. The collected PET bottles are sterilized, dried and crushed into small chips.
2. The chips are heated and passed through a spinneret to form strings of yarn.
3. This yard is wound up in spools.
4. The fiber is then passed through a crimping machine to create a flufy woolly texture. Spun yarns are produced much the same way cotton yarn is produced.
5. The long filaments are cut into short pieces called staple. These are then combined together with cotton staple and spun to create yarn made up of thousands of short filaments.
6. This yarn is then beamed, woven and dyed into terry towels.

Because of the recyclability of PET and the relative abundance of postconsumer waste in the form of bottles, PET is rapidly gaining market share as a textile fiber. Example: Mohawk Industries released everSTRAND in 1999, a 100% post-consumer recycled content PET fiber. Since that time, more than 17 billion bottles have been recycled into carpet fiber.

This process of converting PET into recycled polyester requires much less energy than in the case of normal polyester. In fact it takes 33-53% less energy.

Using more recycled polyester reduces our dependence on petroleum as the raw material for our fabric needs.

Diverting PET bottles for this process reduces landfill, and thus less soil contamination, air and water pollution.

Recycled polyester doesn’t require agricultural land, nor does it consume gallons of water like cotton does.



Textile recycling is generated from two primary sources:

1. Pre-consumer: includes scraps created by yarn and fabric by-products.
2. Post-consumer: includes garments, upholstery, towels, household items to be repurposed.

The largest volume of recycled cotton sources is produced through pre-consumer waste. Pre-consumer waste comes from any excess material produced during the production of yarn, fabrics and textile products, e.g. selvage from weaving and fabric remnants from factory cutting rooms.



The majority of recycled cotton is claimed through mechanical recycling. The fabrics and yarn are run through a machine that shreds the fabric into yarn and further into raw fiber. This process is harsh and puts a great deal of strain on the fiber – it is not uncommon for fibers to break and entangle during shredding. The raw fiber is then spun back into yarns for reuse in other products. The quality of recycled fiber will never have quality values equal to the original fiber. Specifically, fiber length and length uniformity will be impacted.

The resulting staple fiber is shorter than the original fiber length, meaning it is more dificult to spin. Recycled cotton is therefore often blended with virgin cotton fibers to improve yarn strengths. Commonly, not more than 30% recycled cotton content is used in the finished yarn or fabric.

Cotton is an extremely resource intense crop in terms of water, pesticides and insecticides. This means that using recycled cotton can lead to significant savings of natural resources and reduce pollution from agriculture. Recycling one ton of cotton can save 765 cubic meters (202,000 US gal) of water.

Recycled cotton is often combined with recycled plastic bottles to make clothing and textiles, creating sustainable, earth-conscious products.

Eco Terry is the newest form of sustainability and recycling combined.

Each 17# per dozen bath towels will recycle two 16 oz water bottles and 2.27 oz of recycled cotton.

RECYCLED BLENDED CLAIM STANDARD

IDFL Certifications has launched the first Recycled Blended Claim Standard (RCS) for textiles and clothing to ensure greater sourcing clarity right through the production supply chain.

The Recycled Blended Claim Standard has been developed to meet demands, in the textile industry and beyond, for verification of the amount of recycled parts or ingredients in a given product. It is essential for retailers and consumers alike to know which parts of specific products are made using recycled materials, and how these materials are processed throughout the supply chain.

The RCS provides a track and trace certification system that ensures that the claims made about a product can be oficially backed up. In order to gain RCS process certification, all the companies involved in the manufacture and trading of your products, including suppliers of half-finished products, have to comply with the RCS standard.





MADE IN GREEN by OEKO-TEX® is a traceable product label for all kinds of textiles (e.g. garments, home textiles) and non-textile components (e.g. accessories). A MADE IN GREEN product ID proves that the product has been tested for harmful substances. This is achieved by certification according to STeP by OEKO-TEX®. It also guarantees that the textile product has been manufactured using sustainable processes under environmentally friendly and socially responsible working conditions. This is carried out through certification in accordance with STeP by OEKO-TEX®. The unique product ID can be used to trace the product. It can thus be shown where the diferent stages of product manufacturing have taken place.