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What is recycled PET?

PET is the material plastic bottles are made of. Recycling it creates a new eco-friendly fabric: recycled PET. It helps reduce plastic waste while preserving natural resources. Wash it in a Guppyfriend.

Photo of Recycled PET

What is recycled PET?

Recycled PET, or rPET, is made by recycling plastic bottles and turning them into a yarn, then a fabric. It's also called recycled polyester.

In fact, polyester or PET (polyethylene terephthalate) is a polluting, petroleum-based but recyclable material, used to make plastic bottles, but also sportswear, swimwear...

Is recycled PET an eco-friendly material?

Although polyester or PET is polluting, recycled PET is considered a material for responsible fashion, because it is part of a zero-waste, circular economy approach.

  • 1.5 million animals are killed by plastic every year, according to the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD). Recycled PET involves recycling plastic bottles, which pollute the planet, and especially the oceans. Several organisations work with fishermen to collect the plastic that pollutes the seas and threatens marine biodiversity, so that it can be recycled. This recycled plastic is sometimes turned into a new garment.
  • Recycling polyester from waste reduces the total amount of polyester produced and of oil extracted. rPET takes 59% less energy to produce than conventional PET, according to the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN).
It takes 70 plastic bottles to make an EcoAlf puffer jacket.© EcoAlf
It takes 70 plastic bottles to make an EcoAlf puffer jacket.
© EcoAlf
See our recycled clothes for women
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However, you still need to be careful with recycled polyester or recycled PET clothes, as they can cause pollution in our washing machines. As with a conventional polyester garment, plastic microparticles can come loose during washing and end up in the environment.

To stop the pollution caused by recycled clothes, the most effective solution is the Guppy Friend washing bag. It traps microparticles, stopping them from getting into wastewater and the oceans.

The Guppy Friend washing bag, which traps at least 90% of plastic microparticles.
The Guppy Friend washing bag, which traps at least 90% of plastic microparticles.
Discover the Guppy Friend

Recycled clothing brands and labels

EcoAlf and Hopaal are two recycled clothing brands that have been deeply committed to cleaning up the oceans since they were founded. Hopaal's founders are surfers, shocked by the amount of plastic in their playground, the ocean. EcoAlf's founder, Javier Goyeneche, set out to create recycled clothes with the same quality and design as conventional clothing.

Through its "Upcycling the Oceans" project, the brand has already collected more than 400 tonnes of marine waste, working with fishermen in the Mediterranean and in Thailand.

Recycled clothes are certified by the Global Recycled Standard (GRS) label.

A fisherman from EcoAlf's "Upcycling the Oceans" programme.
A fisherman from EcoAlf's "Upcycling the Oceans" programme.

From plastic bottle to recycled garment: how does it work?

It's hard to imagine a piece of plastic becoming a garment. Yet 1kg of rPET can be produced from 42 bottles, thanks to a mechanical process:

  1. Post-consumer plastic waste is collected (water bottles, but also used plastic packaging) and sorted.
  2. The PET is then shredded into flakes and washed.
  3. The clean flakes are turned into pellets: at this stage, you get rPET.
  4. The pellets are melted into a paste, which is then stretched to form a recycled polyester yarn.

Discover our selection of ethical clothing for women and our ethical clothing for men, for more mindful fashion.

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