Despite the apparel sector's focus on sustainability, recycled polyester still only accounts for 15% of the total polyester textiles used today. What's the solution, asks Gherzi Textile Organization partner Robert P. Antoshak and Grey Matter Concepts SVP of production and sourcing Radhika Shrinivas.

We have more than 60 years of experience together in the textile and apparel industry. Over our careers, we have witnessed significant change in the industry, with globalisation most profoundly affecting it and the invention of polyester, another major innovation.

Indeed, a quick walkthrough of your closet will reveal that more than half of your clothes are made of synthetic fibres like polyester or nylon. That’s a far cry from the fibre content of the clothes in your parents’ or grandparents’ closets, where natural fibres dominated wardrobes. Yikes.

A little history of polyester

Until the mid 1900s, cotton and wool accounted for most of the textiles produced and used by people. While research on polyester began in the early 1920s, it wasn’t until the 1950s that it was launched as the one fabric that solved all the problems that we had with natural fibres — it did not shrink or show wear and tear, could be pulled, worn, and washed repeatedly without wrinkling, and was therefore well-received by consumers. 

Polyester’s popularity in fabrics increased, with new manufacturers coming up every day until polyester became an industry staple. By the 1970s the industry enjoyed rapid growth, bolstered by polyester’s cost-effectiveness and easy-care attributes. However, despite its benefits, polyester soon got a reputation for being a cheap product. Polyester fabrics were uncomfortable (despite the limitations of double-knits). Nevertheless, polyester has remained popular due to its cost advantages, durability, and improved performance. As the technology behind polyester improved, so did its attractiveness in the market. 

In the early 2000s, polyester became the fabric of fast fashion due to its versatility and affordability. Major retailers globally began using it to develop affordable products, and it became and remains the largest-selling fabric type in the world. 

Earlier, all polyester was a “virgin” fibre made from polyester chips— a product of the petroleum industry. But in 1993, Polartec and Patagonia developed a polar fleece fabric made using recycled polyester fibre extruded from reclaimed plastic bottles, marking the first time a recycled polyester product was designed and sold. 

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A waste of bottles – making polyester sustainable

As the research on polyester fabric continued, the industry learned that polyester fabric thrown away could last in a landfill for hundreds of years without degrading. With millions of metric tons of fabric ending up in landfills, our industry has learned that it has helped to create a mammoth polyester fabric waste problem. 

So, how does using polyester made of recycled plastic bottles change this? Unfortunately, it doesn’t. What it does do is redirect plastic bottles from landfills and convert them into another product that can be used — if only for one time.

For context, over a million water bottles are sold every minute worldwide. That’s 60m bottles an hour, 1.4bn bottles a day, or 525.6bn bottles a year! Imagine sitting in a landfill for 200 years and growing to 525.6bn bottles yearly. A planet of plastic? Oh my.

Ironically, just 20 years ago, recycled polyester was not widely known or used in textiles as the technology was relatively new. What’s more, recycled polyester costs more than virgin polyester. For price-sensitive consumers, virgin polyester is the fabric of choice. The same applies to many fashion companies concerned about preserving margins today. 

A few years ago, a marketing executive floated the idea of using recycled polyester made from used underwear while at an underwear company staff meeting. It was a terrific environmental idea, but the CEO responded by saying: “No one wants to buy used underwear!” Funny. We have come a long way since, but it does underscore the limitations of using recycled products in clothing. 

In 2005 Patagonia in particular continued investing in cheaper and better ways to manufacture recycled polyester from plastic bottles and achieved breakthroughs. Many fibre manufacturers jumped on this and launched their own versions of recycled polyester. Recycled polyester, however, remained significantly more expensive than virgin polyester. Hence, manufacturers and buyers often purchase items made of virgin fibre instead of their recycled counterparts. 

Recycled polyester became more prevalent and widely accepted in the 2010s when the United Nations started focusing on climate change and the impact of plastic waste on our ecology. In 2015 the Paris Agreement was negotiated by 196 parties at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which brought into focus the challenges of plastics and polyester and the risks they pose for our planet. 

This kickstarted the focus on sustainability and stewardship across countries and large global corporations. The focus started globally with major apparel and textile retailers requiring their vendor partners and supply chains to focus on sustainability. Before 2010, the share of recycled polyester in textiles was less than 10%. Despite the focus, the share of recycled polyester only accounts for 15% of the total polyester textiles used today.

Making polyester a circular industry

Since the early 2000s, when recycled polyester was only available at eco-conscious retailers such as Patagonia in their fleece, today, consumers can find recycled polyester in basic items like underwear and socks. In fast fashion, recycled polyester may be found in products like dresses, pants, and shirts – sold by retailers such as H&M or Zara. Many luxury brands have embraced recycled polyester in their goods. Interestingly, although recycled polyester still costs more than its virgin counterpart, the price difference has narrowed in recent years.

In any event, the most prominent case in favour of using recycled polyester made from plastic bottles is to reduce the number of bottles in landfills and oceans and reduce the negative impacts on our environment. The most significant criticism remains that this only eliminates discarded polyester garments that end up in landfills for hundreds of years without degrading. This can be a big dilemma for many consumers and manufacturers alike. Yet, for many brands, using recycled polyester is still a better or more sustainable option than virgin polyester, and the focus should remain. 

The industry is continuing its research on where it can go from here. Cellulosic fibre alternatives (made from pulp) are being developed that are still artificial but would be biodegradable, looking to post-consumer use polyester garments back into fabric. This is one of the ways the industry is moving towards more sustainable fabric options.

The industry’s other big focus is circularity, a solution in which previously used textile goods may be reprocessed into new textile products, bypassing the traditional path of going straight to landfill once discarded. The industry has made some tentative progress in developing new technologies to reuse what was previously used. Still, the industry must fully understand these technologies’ costs and risks. For mass-scale adoption, these circular models must be easily scalable and cost-effective. 

Before consumers or the industry criticises and shuns polyester or recycled polyester, it’s key to remember that it was developed to serve a need – long lasting and easy-care textile products. 

But not so quick: what about microplastics?

At the start of 2024 the apparel sector was urged to create a solid fibre-to-fibre recycled PET polyester industry, given polyester is predicted to account for more than half of total fibre production by 2030.

By Just Style