--- title: "The Fashion Industry Needs an Alternative to Recycled PET" id: "2381" type: "post" slug: "the-fashion-industry-needs-an-alternative-to-recycled-pet" published_at: "2023-11-14T14:30:18+00:00" modified_at: "2023-11-14T13:02:53+00:00" url: "https://www.plasticsengineering.org/2023/11/the-fashion-industry-needs-an-alternative-to-recycled-pet-002381/" markdown_url: "https://www.plasticsengineering.org/2023/11/the-fashion-industry-needs-an-alternative-to-recycled-pet-002381.md" excerpt: "The fashion industry is disrupting the PET circular economy by taking it into an application that recycles less than 1% of its products." taxonomy_category: - "Business" - "Circular Economy" - "Design" - "Industry" - "Packaging" - "PET" - "Recycling" - "Regulation" - "Sustainability" taxonomy_post_tag: - "Circular Economy" - "Design" - "Fashion" - "PET" - "Plastics Waste" - "Recycling" - "Sustainability" - "Textiles" --- [Home](https://www.plasticsengineering.org/) » [News](https://www.plasticsengineering.org/news/) » [Industry](https://www.plasticsengineering.org/c/industry/) » The Fashion Industry Needs an Alternative to Recycled PET # The Fashion Industry Needs an Alternative to Recycled PET ### The fashion industry is disrupting the PET circular economy. They are taking recycled plastic from a closed loop with high recycling rates, like food and beverage, into an application that recycles less than 1% of its products. The textile industry is a significant sector in the global economy, that provides employment for hundreds of millions around the world. Clothes represent comfort, and protection and are a sign of status and individuality. However, the fashion industry must overcome some challenges in the coming years in order to become really sustainable. ## **Looking for fiber-to-fiber recycling** First, the fashion industry relies heavily on petroleum-derived synthetic fibers, primarily polyester, to make garments. Lately, this polyester comes in the form of recycled PET in an effort to make textile production more sustainable. But, in reality, this is disrupting PET’s circular economy. [PET bottles are in a closed-loop recycling system for food contact materials](https://www.plasticsengineering.org/2023/07/lightning-fast-rpet-process-molds-thinwall-food-containers-001406/) and are subject to extended producer responsibility obligations, unlike the fashion industry. Taking PET from a well-established recycling process in the food and beverage industry to the fashion industry affects its circularity. Less than 1% of the material used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing. This represents a loss of materials worth more than $100 billion per year. Including rPET in the production of clothes does not solve the sustainability problem in fashion. They need a fiber-to-fiber recycling model. ## **Redesigning Fashion’s future** According to the [Ellen MacArthur Foundation report “A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning Fashion’s Future”](https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/a-new-textiles-economy) , it is necessary to transform the life cycle of clothes and textiles. New textile and fashion circular economy. Courtesy of Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The industry needs to innovate and create new materials that can be easily recycled. This means stop using rPET from other established recycling closed loops and start the fiber-to-fiber recycling. This new model will also prevent pollution in the environment as the current clothing system does. By **[Juliana Montoya](https://www.plasticsengineering.org/author/jmontoyaplasticsengineering-org/)** | November 14, 2023 [https://www.plasticsengineering.org](https://www.plasticsengineering.org) ##### [Juliana Montoya](https://www.plasticsengineering.org/author/jmontoyaplasticsengineering-org/) [Website](https://www.plasticsengineering.org) | [+ postsBio ⮌](#) ### Other posts you could read [April 30, 2026Upcycling Polyolefins into Jet Fuel Components](https://www.plasticsengineering.org/2026/04/upcycling-polyolefins-into-jet-fuel-components-011138/) [April 28, 2026IKV Colloquium 2026: The Journey of Research and Industry](https://www.plasticsengineering.org/2026/04/ikv-colloquium-2026-the-journey-of-research-and-industry-010989/) [April 29, 2026Renewable Functional Coatings for Advanced Applications](https://www.plasticsengineering.org/2026/04/renewable-functional-coatings-for-advanced-applications-011134/) [April 22, 2026Beyond Flaps: How Composite Skins Enable Morphing Wing Design](https://www.plasticsengineering.org/2026/04/beyond-flaps-how-composite-skins-enable-morphing-wing-design-010950/) [May 4, 2026Why Your Feeder Choice Is Quietly Undermining Consistency](https://www.plasticsengineering.org/2026/05/why-your-feeder-choice-is-quietly-undermining-consistency-011175/) [April 24, 2026Emerging Markets for Polyolefins in the Solar Industry](https://www.plasticsengineering.org/2026/04/emerging-markets-for-polyolefins-in-the-solar-industry-011128/) [May 6, 2026Reinforcement Learning for Polymer Design and Manufacturing](https://www.plasticsengineering.org/2026/05/reinforcement-learning-for-polymer-design-and-manufacturing-011146/) [May 12, 2026Why Recycled Polymers Still Cost More Than Virgin Resin](https://www.plasticsengineering.org/2026/05/why-recycled-polymers-still-cost-more-than-virgin-resin-011239/) ## Share Your Thoughts [Cancel reply](/2023/11/the-fashion-industry-needs-an-alternative-to-recycled-pet-002381/#respond) - [https://twitter.com/share?url=https://www.plasticsengineering.org/?p=2381&text=The+Fashion+Industry+Needs+an+Alternative+to+Recycled+PET&via=Plastics_Mag](https://twitter.com/share?url=https://www.plasticsengineering.org/?p=2381&text=The+Fashion+Industry+Needs+an+Alternative+to+Recycled+PET&via=Plastics_Mag) - [https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://www.plasticsengineering.org/?p=2381&t=The+Fashion+Industry+Needs+an+Alternative+to+Recycled+PET](https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://www.plasticsengineering.org/?p=2381&t=The+Fashion+Industry+Needs+an+Alternative+to+Recycled+PET) - [https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://www.plasticsengineering.org/?p=2381&title=The%20Fashion%20Industry%20Needs%20an%20Alternative%20to%20Recycled%20PET&summary=The+fashion+industry+is+disrupting+the+PET+circular+economy+by+taking+it+into+an+application+that+recycles+less+than+1%25+of+its+products.&source=Plastics+Engineering](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://www.plasticsengineering.org/?p=2381&title=The%20Fashion%20Industry%20Needs%20an%20Alternative%20to%20Recycled%20PET&summary=The+fashion+industry+is+disrupting+the+PET+circular+economy+by+taking+it+into+an+application+that+recycles+less+than+1%25+of+its+products.&source=Plastics+Engineering) - [https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https://www.plasticsengineering.org/?p=2381&title=The+Fashion+Industry+Needs+an+Alternative+to+Recycled+PET](https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https://www.plasticsengineering.org/?p=2381&title=The+Fashion+Industry+Needs+an+Alternative+to+Recycled+PET) - [/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#9aa5e9eff8f0fff9eea7caf6fbe9eef3f9e9badff4fdf3f4ffffe8f3f4fdbab7bacef2ffbadcfbe9f2f3f5f4bad3f4feefe9eee8e3bad4fffffee9bafbf4badbf6eeffe8f4fbeef3ecffbaeef5bac8fff9e3f9f6fffebacadfcebcf8f5fee3a7f2eeeeeae9a0b5b5edededb4eaf6fbe9eef3f9e9fff4fdf3f4ffffe8f3f4fdb4f5e8fdb5a5eaa7a8a9a2ab](/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#9aa5e9eff8f0fff9eea7caf6fbe9eef3f9e9badff4fdf3f4ffffe8f3f4fdbab7bacef2ffbadcfbe9f2f3f5f4bad3f4feefe9eee8e3bad4fffffee9bafbf4badbf6eeffe8f4fbeef3ecffbaeef5bac8fff9e3f9f6fffebacadfcebcf8f5fee3a7f2eeeeeae9a0b5b5edededb4eaf6fbe9eef3f9e9fff4fdf3f4ffffe8f3f4fdb4f5e8fdb5a5eaa7a8a9a2ab) - [#comments](#comments)