So This Whole Fabric Made from Recycled Plastic Thing...How Does it Work?

Back in 2020, I was walking to work when my umbrella flipped inside out and snapped. As I stomped towards the trash can to throw away my broken umbrella, I saw the tag on the canopy read, "Made from 100% Polyester". Knowing that polyester is simply plastic in fabric form, I started wondering...Could I make a rain umbrellas from recycled plastic? Could I fight the ocean plastic crisis and make a superior umbrella?

The answer to both questions (if you're unhinged enough to start a business) is yes.

To begin, I had to figure out how one actually turns ocean plastic into polyester fabric. I found that transforming PET (short for polyethylene terephthalate so...yeah, lets stick with PET) bottles into polyester fabric occurs via a process called mechanical recycling, and it's pretty freaking cool. How does it work? So glad you asked.

Step One: Plastic Collection & Sorting

After the plastic is collected from our environment, it is sorted by plastic type. Any plastic that is not PET (there are over seven types of plastic!) gets separated, as it has different melting points. The remaining PET is then sorted by color. Mountain Dew and Pepsi, for examples, aren't roomies in this process. 

Step Two: Cleaning & Shredding

After the plastic is sorted, the labels and caps are removed and debris, glue, and dirt are wiped away. The cleaned plastic is then shredded down to small plastic flakes like these. Or as we like to call it, toxic confetti!  🎉

Step Three: Melting & Extrusion

Those flakes are melted down at high temperatures, then fed into a machine that turns the clean and dried plastic confetti into thin polyester fibers via a process called extrusion. Out of the extruder comes plastic spaghetti! 🍝 Carbs you certainly wouldn't want to eat. 

Step Four: Spinning into Yarn

Those fibers are cooled and stretched, then spun into yarn, just as cotton or wool would! 🧵

Step Five: Woven/Knitted into Polyester Fabric

The polyester fibers are tightly woven together to become sheets of polyester fabric. This new(ish) material can be turned into any product containing polyester, which includes, you guessed it, sustainable rain umbrellas!

Best of all? Turning existing PET into polyester yarn is much better for the environment than creating virgin polyester. Repurposing existing plastic emits up to 40% less CO2, saves miles of landfill space, prevents further plastic pollution in our environment (and ocean!), and gives us the opportunity to make cool stuff like kick ass, eco-friendly umbrellas from it! 💪🏻

Mechanical recycling for the win, eh?!