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RECYCLED POLYESTER
Recycled polyester, also known as PET, is made by melting existing plastic and re-spinning it into new polyester fibres.
Made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the most common type of plastic in the world, polyester clothing is not a sustainable textile option. To combat this polluting consumption, polyester can actually be recycled from post-industrial and post-consumer raw materials.
As you probably already know, synthetic fibres are harmful to the environment and pollute our planet. For several years, the ecological alternative has been to recycle materials: recycled polyester, which is increasingly used in the textile industry, allows you to recycle clothes you no longer wear or even scraps of raw materials left unused by factories when they produce new clothes.
In this way, you can make t-shirts from old fishing nets, shirts from old clothes or even jackets and parkas from old plastic bottles.
At Native Spirit, we’ve opted to use recycled polyester whenever polyester is needed for the quality of the finished product.
In general, polyester is popular for its strength and elasticity. It also gives products a silky appearance.
Ever wondered where our recycled polyester comes from?
We use post-consumer polyester made from recycled plastic bottles. The vast majority of the plastic bottles used comes from household and industrial waste sorting centres. Although initiatives for recycling plastic bottles and waste from the oceans are increasing, they still represent a very low percentage of the recycled polyester supply.
Let’s take a look at a plastic bottle’s journey to its second life:
The transformation of a plastic bottle happens in several stages. After being collected at different sorting centres, they are categorised according to different criteria: colour, quality, opacity, etc. They are then cleaned before being shredded into small flakes.
Next, these flakes are melted and transformed into polyester pellets using natural processes. These pellets (also called granules) are then transformed into polyester filament or fibre through heating and extruding processes.
These filaments or fibres are then worked to obtain polyester yarn. It’s worth noting that polyester yarn contains several filaments. The threads are then woven to obtain the raw material from which we can make our clothing.
Which Native Spirit ranges does this include? We use recycled polyester in several of our collections. The most representative is the Recycled Raw Spirit collection. What are you waiting for?! T-shirts, polo shirts, sweatshirts. Plenty of pieces made from a subtle blend of recycled cotton and recycled polyester. A complete collection with marled colours and a raw look. This collection is GRS (Global Recycled Standard) certified, the highest level of certification possible for garments from the recycled sector.
The OCEAN SIDE SPIRIT COLLECTION.Do you know how many recycled plastic bottles go into our RIDER sweatshirt? The fleece range comprising the DRIFTER (NS400) and SURFER (NS401) sweatshirts as well as CHILLER (NS700) and RELAXER (NS701) jogging trousers is made from 15% recycled polyester blended with 85% organic cotton. The range is GOTS certified. Global Organic Textile Standard certification requires the use of recycled polyester in garments made of mixed materials. As for accessories, any polyester used in the composition of our bags is automatically recycled.
Do you know how many recycled plastic bottles go into our RIDER sweatshirt?
