H&M shifts away from recycled polyester bottles.

The fashion industry is rethinking its use of recycled plastic bottles in clothing. While it seemed like a sustainable solution, there are concerns that it disrupts the recycling loop for plastic bottles meant to be reused for beverages.

One major problem is making clothes from recycled plastic bottles requires energy and takes those bottles away from being recycled back into bottles. Additionally, regulators are frowning upon this practice as it disrupts the closed-loop recycling system for beverage containers.

Fashion companies are looking to a new solution: recycling old clothes and fabric scraps into new clothes. This method, called textile-to-textile recycling, creates a closed-loop system specifically for polyester clothing.

H&M recently invested heavily in a startup called Syre that uses chemical recycling technologies to turn old clothes into new polyester fibers. This technology is seen as a major step towards a more sustainable clothing industry.

Other brands are also making moves towards textile-to-textile recycling. Patagonia and Inditex (Zara's parent company) have partnered with companies to recycle used clothing into new materials. Puma has announced they are moving away from recycled bottles for their clothes and will instead use recycled fabric scraps.

While textile-to-textile recycling is a promising solution, there are still challenges. Microplastic pollution from clothing is a major concern, and polyester, even recycled polyester, sheds these tiny plastic fibers when washed. Additionally, only a small percentage of clothing is recycled, with most ending up in landfills.

The industry is working on solutions to both microfiber pollution and increasing clothing recycling rates. Initiatives like the 2030 Microfibre Consortium are working to develop ways to make clothes that shed fewer fibers. Additionally, governments are implementing extended producer responsibility (EPR) regulations that put the onus on brands to reduce the environmental impact of their products throughout their lifecycle.

Overall, the fashion industry is moving in a more sustainable direction with textile-to-textile recycling, but there is still work to be done to address microplastic pollution and increase clothing recycling rates.