Sustainable Apparel

Sustainable apparel has been popular in Europe and the United States since 2018 and is particularly in line with environmentalist concepts. Recycled clothing does not refer to recycled waste or used clothing, but refers to the raw materials used for clothing coming from recycled plastic products. For example, by recycling, washing and disinfecting cola and mineral water bottles into raw materials for clothing, each ton of finished yarn can save 6 tons of oil. This oil saving removes nearly 80% of the energy consumption compared with the conventional production of polyester fibre, which significantly reduces air pollution.

Because it is a textile raw material extracted from plastic products, recycled clothing is currently mainly made of polyester. To keep warmth, soft hand-feel and other functional requirements, polyester, wool, viscose and other raw materials can be mixed into the polyester. The current mainstream rule is that recycled polyester must make up at least 30% of clothing material defined as sustainable.
Of course, the product needs to be tested. There are currently two leading institutions: Repreve and GRS. After passing the test, a recycled hang tag can be attached on clothes to show the distinction.