Recycled T-shirts made without chemicals

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Spotted: US clothing brand Marine Layer has partnered with Spanish textile factory Recover to produce T-shirts made from recycled clothing. The new Re-Spun line is made by breaking down and separating fabric blends, then extracting cotton fibres. These recycled fibres are mixed with sustainably-sourced cotton, hemp and recycled plastic fibres to add strength.

Because Recover separates fibres by colour, no chemicals or dyes are needed. The process uses ultraviolet light to clean individual fibres instead of washing the old clothes. Since it normally takes 15,000 litres of water to produce 1 kg of finished cotton fabric, this represents huge environmental savings.

Although the process can recycle almost any garment, Marine Layer mainly uses clothing provided by its own customers using pre-paid mailing envelopes, store drop-offs and a $5 (€4.50) credit for each shirt donated (up to $25). The new line is available in-store and online.

Takeaway: Until now, creating new garments from old has been a very complex and expensive process. Most textiles are made up of several different types of fibres, including synthetic fibres that are non-biodegradable. Meanwhile, according to the Guardian, in the UK alone, around 235 million items of clothing are sent to landfills every year. Marine Layer’s new shirts are helping its customers reduce their footprint by first focusing on a single garment. Relying on its customers for raw materials also makes them feel more invested in the process, and consequently more likely to buy from Marine Layer. At Springwise, we’ve seen recycled gum turned into shoes, and old shoes turned into new shoes. These developments reflect customers’ increasing concerns about the environmental footprint of their purchases.

Website: www.marinelayer.com
Contact: [email protected]

Company founded in: 2009

Source: New feed 1