TOPIC

SUSTAINABLE
PRACTICES OF UNIQLO

DE LA PEÑA, GRANT B.
1BSHM1C
 BACKGROUND

Every minute, a million plastic bottles are purchased around the world, and this
number will continue to rise. According to new numbers obtained by the Guardian,
the use of plastic bottles has increased by more than half a million. The demand,
which is equivalent to nearly 20,000 bottles being purchased every second

The soft drink and water bottles are composed of PET (polyethylene
terephthalate), which is highly recyclable. However, as their popularity grows
around the world, attempts to collect and recycle the bottles in order to protect
waste from damaging the oceans are falling behind.

In 2016, less than half of the bottles purchased were collected for recycling,
and just 7% of those collected were recycled into new bottles. The majority
of plastic bottles produced instead end up in the landfill or the ocean.
REUNIQLO

Recycling technology is still evolving and has a lot of

potential. Thus, we can make new clothing using yarn
from used plastic beverage bottles, for example. We
also make fashionable bags using yarn made from
nylon thread waste that is normally discarded during
the garment manufacturing process.
PRODUCTS

JACKETS
PRODUCTS

SHIRTS
PRODUCTS

TOTE BAGS
RECYCLED POLYESTER: THE
CONS

Recycled polyester releases microplastics

Some argue against the assertion that recycled polyester prevents plastic from ending up in
the oceans. Man-made fabrics can release microscopic plastic fibres - the infamous
microplastics - so they still do a little. Each cycle of a washing machine could release more
than 700,000 plastic fibers into the environment, according to a recent study by a team from
Plymouth University in the United Kingdom.

The process of recycling PET impacts the

environment, too
Mechanically recycled polyester chips come in a variety of colors: some are crisp
white, while others are creamy yellow, making color consistency difficult to achieve.
Some dyers have trouble getting a white, so they use chlorine-based bleaches to
whiten the base. Inconsistency in dye uptake makes it difficult to achieve good
batch-to-batch color consistency, which can lead to a lot of re-dying, which uses a lot
of water, energy, and chemicals.
RECYCLED POLYESTER: THE
PROS

Keeping plastics from going to landfill and the ocean

Polyester that has been recycled is a non-biodegradable material that would

otherwise wind up in a landfill or the ocean. Plastics enter the ocean at a rate of 8
million metric tons per year, on top of the estimated 150 million metric tons that
already circulate in marine habitats. If current trends continue, there will be more
plastic in the ocean than fish by 2050.

Recycled polyester is just as good as virgin polyester but

takes less resources to make
In terms of quality, recycled polyester is nearly identical to virgin polyester,
however it is produced with 59 percent less energy than virgin polyester. In
comparison to conventional polyester, manufacturers of recycled polyester
seek to reduce CO2 emissions by 32 percent. Furthermore, recycled polyester
can help to reduce the amount of crude oil and natural gas extracted from the
Earth in order to produce additional plastic.
END

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DE LA PEÑA, GRANT B.
1BSHM1C