A company in Dubai is on a mission to recycle over one billion plastic bottles this year to create polyester yarns that can be used to make t-shirts, dresses, leggings, and other sustainable clothing options.
Clothing manufacturer DGrade recycles up to 60 million plastic bottles monthly to produce around 20,000 T-shirts daily.
Manufacturing with a sustainable twist means less plastic waste ending up in landfills, managing director Emma Barber told Khaleej Times.
T-shirts made from recycled bottles are also cheaper by 12 to 15 per cent, as compared to conventional polyester shirts. In addition, the manufacturing process is eco-friendly as it does not use oil, which is a finite resource, she added.
With more than 30 years of experience in retail fashion Ms Barber has been a long-time advocate for sustainability.
DGrade, produced 185,000 t-shirts for Expo 2020 Dubai, resulting in diverting 3.7 million plastic bottles from landfills.
The whole process of turning plastic bottles to a finished T-shirt takes around 60 days.