What is polyester?
Polyester is an artificial synthetic material derived from petroleum, widely used in the textile industry. Polyester accounts for 70% of the synthetic textile fibres used in clothing, with 42 million tonnes produced every year.
Valued for its strength, its elasticity, its low absorbency and its anti-UV properties, it is everywhere: in sportswear, swimwear, summer clothes...
And yet polyester is a highly polluting material throughout its life cycle. Here are a few reasons to avoid it:
- Polyester is derived from petroleum, a non-renewable fossil fuel.
It takes 1.5 kg of petroleum to make 1 kg of polyester. In total, 40 million tonnes of polyester were produced in 2015. - Polyester is made using toxic chemicals and causes air, soil and water pollution.
- In our washing machines, polyester releases plastic microparticles that end up in rivers and oceans and pollute marine ecosystems. This pollution is invisible to the naked eye, yet it amounts to 50 billion plastic bottles in the world's waters every year.
That is why sustainable fashion brands avoid polyester. They prefer recycled polyester.
Polyester, a polluting material to avoid
Polyester, concentrated petroleum
In 2015, for COP21, the Huffpost published an article on the environmental impact of the textile industry which stated the following: 70 million barrels of oil are needed every year by the textile industry to make polyester fibres. Not very green or very sustainable, all that.
Petroleum is indeed a non-renewable fossil fuel whose extraction harms the environment.
What's more, the polyester manufacturing process doesn't use crude oil directly but requires a series of chemical reactions before the polyester fibres are obtained. According to the WWF, it takes around 1.5 kg of petroleum to produce 1 kg of polyester, a loss of 30%. Polyester is made by chemical synthesis of two petroleum components: terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol. The condensation of this acid and this alcohol produces a kind of gel, which is then stretched to make polyester yarns.
The production of this synthetic chemical material, akin to plastic, generates a whole lot of emissions that are toxic to the environment, such as sodium bromide or titanium dioxide.
The chemical agents used in the manufacturing process are then removed when the polyester fibres are washed, and released into wastewater and the air. This causes significant air and water pollution, not to mention the impact on the health of the workers who handle toxic chemicals every day.
On top of using toxic, polluting chemicals, this manufacturing process is water- and energy-intensive.
Beyond this manufacturing process, dyeing polyester fibres can also be a source of pollution. To be coloured, chemical polyester fibres may require chemical « carriers » that help the colour penetrate the polyester fibre. Some of these "carriers", such as biphenyl, are classified as harmful to the environment and irritating to the skin and respiratory tract.
Polyester and plastic microparticle pollution
Polyester's negative environmental footprint doesn't stop once it leaves the factory gates.
Indeed, polyester, like many petroleum-based products, is barely recyclable, if at all.
But it's above all its everyday use that causes widespread, lasting pollution of the environment. Every time polyester textiles go through the washing machine, they release thousands of plastic microparticles into the rinse water. These microfibres are so fine that they slip through wastewater treatment plants and end up in rivers, seas and oceans. They invisibly pollute aquatic environments, are swallowed by fish and contribute to the destruction of ecosystems.
What is ethical fashion doing?
Faced with such a negative environmental impact, many brands and start-ups in ethical, eco-friendly fashion are trying to find alternatives.
One example is Hopaal, a brand based in the South of France, which offers clothes made from 100% recycled polyester fibres.
Do we really know what polyester is?
The term polyester refers to a group of molecules, polymers, assembled through a synthetic chemical process. Polyester has a multitude of uses, from making plastic objects to textiles. It lasts a long time and resists heat, friction, chemical attack...
Introduced in France in the 1950s under the Tergal brand, it is now one of the most widespread textile materials.
