A circular economy for plastic waste - Recycled polyester

The choice of textile material for Wrag Wraps was crucial in providing a more viable and sustainable alternative to wrapping paper. Our fabric needed to fulfil the conditions of being produced sustainably and ethically, and printed with minimal environmental impact. As a responsible manufacturer, we will constantly re-evaluate this material choice to ensure Wrag Wraps only ever become more sustainable.

What are Wrag Wraps made from?

Wrag Wraps are made from recycled plastic bottles, abbreviated to Rpet. In order to guarantee 100% recycled content in our Rpet yarn, all Wrag Wraps are woven from a brand of Rpet called Repreve® . It is fully traceable and certified. In short, we insist that all our fabric is made from waste plastic bottles, nothing else!

Here are a few words from Dr Kate Fletcher, the sustainable textile consultant we worked with:

Converting fibres to fabric and into textile products ranging from clothes to carpets and including wrapping fabric requires energy, water, chemicals and land. It also releases waste and emissions to the environment, most significantly for the textile sector, to water. 
Recycled polyester works to reduce these impacts, cutting back energy and chemicals consumption compared to conventional polyester and drawing up significantly less water and land than natural fibres like cotton. Not only that but because it is made from recycled material, it is finding a high value end use for waste, meaning that less polyester material is dumped in landfill.

Repreve from Unifi is a great material choice for reducing the impact on water, climate and levels of chemicals in our environment.
All good wishes

Kate

Why we chose recycled polyester and not other sustainable fabrics?

Why not cotton?   Current worldwide demand for textile fibres of over 70 million tonnes per annum cannot be met by natural fibres alone.  Furthermore, RPET polyester fabric has a 50% lower carbon footprint than organic cotton.

We need to use our plastic waste instead of burying it in landfill. It makes sense to use the waste to make products with longevity and re-usability. 

Of the synthetic fibres, RPET polyester fabric has almost a 90% lower carbon footprint than nylon.

RPET polyester fabric has a 75% lower carbon footprint than polyester.

What does PET stand for?

PET stands for polyethylene terephthalate and is also known as polyester.  Recycled polyester, recycled PET or RPET are all considered synonyms for the same material.  RPET is made from used plastic bottles which have been collected, cleaned, smashed, melted, polymerized and finally spun into yarn.

Facts about RPET

• Recycling 1 ton of PET containers saves 5.7 square metres of landfill space.
• 90% less water is used in making recycled polyester versus polyester.
• RPET requires 70 percent less energy than virgin fibre production.
• Currently RPET costs about 15 - 20 percent more than virgin fibre.
• 1 kg of RPET (made with 100% post-consumer waste) can keep 60 water bottles out of landfill.
• Recycling 1 plastic bottle saves the equivalent of 3 hours of energy from a 60 watt light bulb.
• 51 billion plastic bottles go to landfill annually worldwide.
• Plastic bottles in U.S. landfills could wrap around the earth 5 times.
• Only 7% of all plastic generated in 2009 was recovered for recycling, this is improving year on year as demand for waste plastic increases.
• In 2012, Repreve production will keep over 900 million plastic bottles from entering landfill.

We have researched these statistics carefully and keep a close eye on developments - but we recognise that this is a fast moving area, and the facts may change.  Please do let us know if you have any updates on this page or feel that there are omissions.