Fabric maker Polartec LLC has passed a major milestone with the recycling of its 1 billionth plastic bottle used to create yarns.
The Salt Lake City, Utah-based company makes more than 300 types of fabrics that are then used by clothing manufacturers to create their products. The company, in 2014, used more than 60 percent recycled yarns to create their fabric.
“A billion bottles is a good start but we feel there is still ample opportunity for innovation and we look forward to helping our brands create eco-conscious garments for many years to come,” Polartec CEO Gary Smith said in a statement.
“We knew that recycled textiles could not sacrifice performance if they were to gain widespread adoption from global brands,” Smith continued.
Polartec said the billion recycled bottles would create enough fabric to make about 27 million new fleece jackets.
Polartec says it makes post-consumer recycled content fleece through a partnership with Unifi Inc. The two firms developed Repreve 100, a yarn using 100 percent clear plastic bottles that is identical in terms of quality from fabrics using virgin polyester, Polartec said.