From Plastic Bottles to Rugs & Blankets

 

From Plastic Water Bottles to Cosy Soft Rugs & Blankets

Around 380 million tonnes of plastic are being produced annually. [1]

8.3 billion tonnes of plastic has been produced since plastic was introduced in the 1950’s. Humans use about 1.2 million plastic bottles per minute and approximately 91%of plastic is not recycled. [2]

Roughly half of our global annual plastic production is destined for a single use product. [3]

Virtually every piece of plastic that was ever made still exists in some shape or form (with the exception of the small amount that has been incinerated).[4]

 

Weaver Green in UK has a slogan, “Great textiles shouldn’t cost the Earth.” They endeavour to take discarded water bottles and process them to create textiles. 

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The products include rugs, throws, blankets, cushions. foot stools. ottermans/coffee tables, bags, coiled 'baskets' and dog beds.The woven designs and colours are eye catching and there appears to be something for every taste.

Image : Weaver Green

The blankets throws and cushions are surprisingly soft. They feel like soft wool, cosy and comforting. The rugs are firmer to the touch but not at all plastic feeling. So how are they made?

Making textiles from synthetics isn't a new concept. Weaver Green state,

 "It's estimated that making soft open yarn like ours from recycled plastic bottles uses as much as 70% less energy and almost 90% less water than creating them from scratch. It also makes much more valuable use of the precious resources that go into making the plastic bottle in the first place, like oil and water." 

This made me want to look at the research papers and analysis of these claims. I contacted the company and I was told a response was forth coming. However, to date, other than acknowledgement of my request, I have not received information from Weavers Green. 

The Process

Image: Weaver Green

The manufacturing of plastic has already been completed. The yarn is made by shredding the bottles.

Heating the shreds  until melted. Then extruding to create long fibres. The fibres are combed to open the strips then spun into yarn. The yarn is dyed and sent to weavers who use hand looms to create the fabrics. The yarn is produced in a closed water system that constantly recycles, purifies and and reuses the same water.

 

The dye vats are heated by burning discarded rice and wheat husks, a by product of local cereal farmers, in factories with low emission chimneys. All of this helps to minimise the pollution  from the production process and reduces the company's reliance on fossil fuels.

It is estimated that 300 bottles are recycled to make a blanket of 230cms by 130cms. Up to 600 recycled plastic bottles are used in rugs measuring 150cms by 90cms.

The company estimate that by March 2022 they had recycled 170 million plastic bottles.

The removal of millions of plastic bottles from, waterways leading to the ocean and landfill, through the creation of textiles that can withstand the rigours of daily use is admirable. Even micro plastics have been considered, in that, the yarn is made of very long fibres which, are less prone to shredding than a shorter fibre would be. The products are washed infrequently. They can be rubbed down and do not easily stain, this also reduces the amount of micro plastic entering the watercourses. 

It is recomended that adjusting how textiles are washed can reduce the amount of micro fibres circulating in our waterways. For example:

• Use a liquid rather than powder detergent. Powders rub more on fibres.
• Wash synthetics on a cool temperature cycle  
• Wash with a full load which reduces friction.
• Use shorter wash cycles.
• Hang textiles on a line dont spin them. Spinning causes more microfibres to be released.

The recycling of plastic bottles is positive. The removal of them from water courses is the right thing to do. Longer term' wouldn't it be better if we didn't use them in the first place? When buying textiles maybe paying a little more for a non synthetic fibre that will decompose is better than plastic based textiles.

The company takes a moral stand point on the environmental issue. Removing plastic bottles from watercourses is a good thing. The products that they make last a long time. The company provides work for people in developing countries such as India. From an ethics standpoint the company states  that all people in the supply chain are treated fairly and paid accordingly. Independent inspection in Turkey and India ensure safe and fair working conditions. The  textiles are woven on hand looms using weavers throughout Europe and Asia. Therefore from a moral perspective Weaver Green are providing employment for 'cottage industries' to develop. As a result living standards improve for the workers as they become financially better off.

Despite legislation there remains problems of health and safety in Indian factories. For example as recently as the 9th November 2022 a fire broke out in a footwear manufacturing factory in Delhi. Two workers were killed and 18 were injured. The fire was caused by an explosion in a polyurethane machine. Workers had previously complained that the machine wasn't working properly. The factory owner took no action. The factory did not have the relevant certificates from the fire department and did not have any equipment with which to fight the fire. [5]

Similarly 12th July 2021 in Bangladesh, at a food juice factory a fire broke out and 52 workers were killed.

According to Industriall Global Union, the Gujarat Pollution Control Board, confirmed that at a mill - a textile dyeing and printing factory, sodium hydrosulphide and sodium thiosulphate were illegally discharged into a natural creek on 6 January, killing six employees. Twenty nine employees had to be hospitalised after inhaling toxic gas from the Sachin creek in Surat district.  

The rate of industrial accidents is high. I ask, could / should western companies who use the factories in India, and similar countries, be held legally responsible, for ensuring the supply chain for their goods has standards of health and safety equivalent to European standards?

[1] https://plasticoceans.org/the-facts/

[2] https://basq.livelarg.com/sustainability/how-many-plastic-water-bottles-are-used-a-minute/

[3] https://plasticoceans.org/the-facts/

[4] http://advances.sciencemag.org/contents/3/7/e1700782

[5] https://www.industriall-union.org/two-factory-fires-in-india-in-less-than-a-week