Textile Insight

textileinsight.com November/December 2018 ~ Textile Insight • 23 TECH | OCEAN PLASTICS An Industry-Wide Search for Solutions to the Problem of Microfiber Shedding. By Debra Cobb SEAQUAL 4U, a Spanish company created to upcycle ocean waste, says some eight million tons of plastic ends up in the ocean each year. And according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, if nothing changes, by 2020 there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean. It gets worse. Eighty-percent of this waste breaks down into nano-particles which are ingested by aquatic animals, entering the food chain ending with human consumption. A number of studies in both the U.S. and Europe have found that synthetic textiles, particularly those made from microfibers, shed thousands of microplastic fibers each time they are washed. Mary Catherine O'Connor, an independent journalist writing for Ensia (a non-profit magazine focusing on environmental challenges and solu- tions), reports, "Due to the frequency with which apparel is laundered and the increasing quanti- ties of clothing being purchased throughout the world (thanks at least in part to the so-called fast fashion trend) apparel is the microfiber source on which researchers and policy-makers are focusing attention." The Great Ocean Clean Up Cleaning up ocean debris is a complex issue. What happens to the garbage once it's collected? Finding the right way to clean, recycle, and upcycle masses of smelly plastic is the bigger part of the challenge. Parley for the Oceans, a think tank dedicated to addressing the threats towards the oceans, takes a three-pronged approach to ocean cleanup. It's described by the acronym AIR: avoid the use of plastic, intercept plastic waste before it ends up in the ecosystem, and redesign products to fit new industry standards. Parley has partnered with island countries whose economies depend on clean waters, such as the Maldives, Jamaica and Granada, to clean up local plastic waste. In 2015 Parley teamed up with Adidas to develop a sneaker created with yarn from recy- cled ocean plastic and fishing nets. In 2017 Adidas sold a million pairs of sneakers made from ocean waste, and this year the company launched a new Parley X Adidas Outdoor collection. Adidas' recycled polyester supplier, Far Eastern New Century, says that the sports brand plans to sell five million pairs of the shoes, each of which recycles polyester from 11 plastic bottles. Building a Wave from Ocean Trash Seaqual 4U, founded two years ago, is an alli- ance of the Ecoalf Foundation (a fashion/lifestyle brand and certified B corporation), textile group Santanderina and spinning mill Antex. Employing some 400 fishing boats to collect trash from the Mediterranean, it upcycles the plastic waste to create the proprietary polymer and fiber brand Seaqual. Managing director Michel Chtepa describes the company as "a business, not an NGO. We create value and raise awareness by creating beautiful product." Seaqual is offered as both filament and staple, which can be blended with natural fibers to create textiles of sustainable origin. Textile companies CLOSING THE LOOP ON OCEAN WASTE Plastic pollution in our oceans has become the hot topic in sustainability circles, and the textile industry is just beginning to realize that we own a portion of the blame. The stats are mind- boggling. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, off the coast of California, is estimated to be a 700,000 sq. kilometer mass. But while natural materials decompose, plastics — synthetic materials — break down into smaller and smaller pieces that sink into the ocean depths.

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