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Nowadays, more and more clothing is being made from sustainable materials. But the municipality of Exeter has taken it a step further. British waste collection workers are now wearing uniforms made from waste. Yes, they’re wearing the very material they work with. In this article, I’ll explain how they’ve managed to make this possible.
British waste collection workers wear uniforms made from waste
The uniforms are made from discarded plastic bottles. While this isn’t entirely unique—many companies now make clothing from PET bottles, short for polyethylene terephthalate plastic—it’s remarkable that these high-visibility uniforms can be 100% recycled at the end of their life cycle. Most fabrics made from PET bottles can no longer be reused after their initial production.
According to the municipality of Exeter, the waste workers’ clothing is recycled at the end of its life through a mechanical process. The polyethylene extracted from this process is then used to spin yarn for polyester fabrics.
How sustainable?
For the employees of the Material Reclamation Facility, the factory in Exeter that receives and sorts waste, it’s particularly special. After all, they’re wearing uniforms made from the very plastic bottles they handle daily.
However, as sustainable as this might sound, clothing made from PET bottles isn’t as eco-friendly as we’d like to believe. During washing, the fabric often sheds plastic particles that end up in water systems. Additionally, the bottles usually need to be processed manually to remove their labels before production. This is often done in countries where wages and working conditions leave much to be desired. Hopefully, the municipality considered these factors when choosing a supplier, though this wasn’t mentioned in the press release.
Not that I’m complaining—I think it’s an amazing initiative and a great example for other countries. It’s still far better than producing new workwear only to see it eventually go up in flames. Let’s be honest: fast fashion and disposable workwear are so last century.
Best regards,