In 2018, Polartec developed their Power Air technology, which reduces the number of microfibers shed during the washing process. The brand produces nearly 5.5 million meters of sustainably made fabrics each year. They first started using recycled plastic bottles in their products back in 1993 and have since saved over 1.7 billion PET bottles from landfill. One of the forerunners in sustainable material innovation is outdoor brand Polartec. Innovation and new production technologies play a crucial role in reducing the industry’s impact on the Earth. So it’s not just reducing demand and consumption that matters. The way fabrics are processed, the materials used and the life-cycle of an item all play a role in the amount of microplastic byproducts a garment produces. The problem with “fast fashion” and the increased turnaround of clothing goes beyond just large production numbers. dollars, and is expected to grow further over the next few years after recovering from Covid-related losses in 2020. The global fast fashion market in 2019 was valued at 36 billion U.S. In summary, fast fashion contributes to a long list of environmental issues. I’ve discussed some of the effects the clothing industry has on the environment in a previous article. Since we are still unable to effectively filter out all particles of plastic in the water, microfibres circulate throughout the water systems and inevitably end up in the environment. Every type of material creates debris-from the start of its production until it reaches the consumer, and throughout its lifetime while in use.įor clothing in particular, due to the continuous washing required to maintain it, debris keeps shedding in our washing machines and travels into sewage. These mostly come from the materials used to make clothing, and it’s not just the synthetic ones that shed potentially harmful substances. What might not be obvious, is that our clothing also sheds microfibres, which is a type of microplastics. (Photo by MEHDI FEDOUACH / AFP) (Photo by MEHDI FEDOUACH/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images How does clothing shed microplastics? Dusacre and Stremsek collect plastic waste on 260 km of beaches on the Aquitaine coast as part of research into the effects of plastics on humans, animals and nature. microplastic waste collected on the Aquitaine coast on the beach of Contis, southwestern France, on August 17, 2020. TOPSHOT - French scientist and member of the association "4P Shore & Seas" Edgar Dusacre shows.
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