T-shirts, sportswear out of ocean plastic?

Forty per cent of the plastic is used just once and on an average, 8.8 million tonnes of plastic enters the ocean every year. The maximum amount could be closer to 14 million tonnes – about the weight of 2 million elephants. Scientists found upwards of 414 million pieces of trash on scarcely populated islands in the Indian Ocean.

Upcycled plastic waste intercepted from beaches and coastal communities could be made use of. Polygenta Technologies Ltd with a 10,000 MT plant at Nashik is manufacturing polyester filament yarn from 100% post-consumer PET bottles. Makarand Kulkarni, CEO, Polygenta, says, "Two million bottles of one litre capacity are recycled every day and plans are to expand it to four times in the next two years to 100 tonne per day. 30 metric tonnes of yarn is produced every day."

Dhanvant Yeola, executive director (technical), Polygenta Technologies, says, "Recycling one tonne of PET waste saves 3.8 barrels of oil and there is 86% less water consumption at the facility. It takes 3-4 bottles to make one T-shirt." He further adds, "The process is patented to recycle post-consumer PET into high-quality estersused for polyester filament yarn and the technology is a superior chemical process to convert post-consumer PET bottles to a purified recycled polyester."

Speaking about the fears of wearing clothes made from plastic, Dhanvant says, "Even babies can wear products made out of recycled plastic. Since 2015, Adidas x Parley have collaborated to prevent plastic entering oceans by transforming it into sportswear."

Sharad Singla, Brand Director, Adidas India, says, "PET bottles are collected to produce yarn and the brand is now planning to produce 11 million pairs of shoes containing recycled ocean plastic in 2019. For the 2018-19 season, all the third kits of leading football clubs including Manchester United and Real Madrid have been made from upcycled Parley fabric."

Two million bottles of one litre capacity are recycled every day and plans are to expand it to four times in the next two years to 100 tonne per day. 30 metric tonnes of yarn is produced every day

– Makarand Kulkarni, CEO, Polygenta Technologies

Recycling one tonne of PET waste saves 3.8 barrels of oil and there is 86% less water consumption at the facility. It takes 3-4 bottles to make one T-shirt. The process is patented to recycle post-consumer PET into high-quality esters used for polyester filament yarn and the

– Dhanvant Yeola, ED, Polygenta Technologies