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MEC recycles polyester clothing
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machavillain
about 1 year ago about Mountain Equipment Co-op
Mountain Equipment Co-op has recycle bins at its stores for worn-out polyester clothing, which it turns into new clothing and then sells again. They accept clothes from their own brand, Polartec, EcoCircle and Patagonia Common Threads. This seems like a great program, because it not only reduces waste but also provides material for new polyester, thus lessening the demand for a petroleum byproduct.
All items in the garment recycling bin are sorted; we donate products that still show signs of life. The remaining products are sent to Teijin, a fabric manufacturer in Japan, where they are reprocessed into new fibres through Teijin’s Eco Circleâ„¢ closed-loop recycling system. In this process, garments are crushed, turned into granules, then run through a chemical reaction process that removes dyes and other chemicals before turning it back into raw polyester (polyester polymer), then new Eco Circle fibre.

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Comments
submitted by prowsej about 1 year ago
The world has dozens of container ships going from Asia to America every month, but on average they return only 60% full. This is an interesting example of putting something on them and being able to transport without having a net harm on the environment.
submitted by josetaco about 1 year ago
bfft who cares…
utilizing part empty container ships
submitted by freqnasty 10 months ago
Great idea. Doing net good with out incurring net harm is what it’s all a about. Awesome!
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