Part 3/3
Recycling has its limitations!
Recycling has its limitations and it is not an easy way out to be able to produce unlimited amounts of recycled polyester. Mills are limited in their capability to make recycled polyester.
Some experts believe that plastic pollution can be solved if we find ways to recycle plastics efficiently and find sustainable alternatives for disposable plastics that are used in many common products. Especially many garments are not made from polyester alone and a lot of clothes that we buy are made from a polyester mix which does not allow for recycling. It is difficult to separate out the substances in a mixture so they can be used for something else.
Certain laminations and finishes applied to fabrics can mean that they are not recyclable at all.
PET can be recycled two ways: mechanically and chemically.
Mechanical recycling turns a i.e a plastic bottle into polyester chips. These chips are then recycled and used to make traditional fibers, like polyester fleece.
Chemical recycling is the process of breaking down used plastics and turning them back into their original monomers. Recycling plastic this way often yields near-virgin quality plastic which can then go back into the regular polyester manufacturing system.
Most recycled PET comes from mechanical recycling, which is the cheapest alternative to chemical processing and only requires detergents to clean the incoming materials.
Even if your clothes are 100% polyester, they still can’t be recycled endlessly.
It is commonly believed that plastics can be recycled indefinitely, but this isn't the case. Every time plastics are heated up they degenerate, which means that the higher quality plastic material gets pushed towards lower-quality products or becomes unusable substances. But processes getting better and better with the aim that garments from recycled polyester shall to be continuously recycled without degradation of quality someday.
The recycling process of PET can have a negative effect on the environment as well.
The recycling process of Polyester chips is an issue. Some parts can be crispy white, while others are creamy yellow. Without consistency in color it's difficult to produce goods that all match. Dyers spend a lot of chemical trying to get white colour, so they use chemical-based bleaches to whiten the fabric which requires again more water and energy use.
Tiny plastic particles are released into water.
According to a study, published in the journal Environmental Pollution, found that a single cycle of a washing machine can release up to 700,000 plastic fibres into the environment.
These artificial fibres have even been found in the deepest parts of the ocean during the Volvo Ocean race in 2018.
“Out of a total of 68 samples taken during the course of the Volvo Ocean Race, only two, collected south of Australia and east of Argentina, have been found to contain no microplastics.”