Waste2Wear collaborates with well-known fashion brands to make clothing from 2 million plastic bottles

The company Waste2Wear, which makes textiles from recycled PET bottles, is launching fall/winter collections made from 100% recycled material together with six major fashion brands – including Wehkamp, Claudia Sträter and Oilily

In total, more than 2,000,000 plastic bottles have been recycled into a variety of textile products: from jackets and dresses to baby carriage upholstery. The collections will be available in the Netherlands and Belgium from mid-August. The new collections are part of the WASTE2WEAR | Ocean Plastic Project. This project is a collaboration between Chinese and Dutch universities, companies, and NGOs to tackle the plastic soup.

Monique Maissan, CEO Waste2Wear: “The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world. In order to make a real impact, we need to join forces with major players and be transparent about the production process. This collaboration is a step in the right direction.” But that is not all the textile industry needs, Maissan admits. Waste2Wear wants to inspire the industry by showing that you can make something beautiful out of plastic waste. In this way the company is challenging the textile sector to become a leader in the fight against plastic waste.

Sustainable textile from the ocean
From mid-August, the new collections of women’s clothing, outdoor clothing, children’s coats and bags from Claudia Sträter, Promiss, Expresso, Steps, Wehkamp and Oilily will be available. The Joolz stroller will be launched in 2019. The variety of fabrics is large, totaling over 100,000 items made from RPET (retycled polyester). Of this plastic, 30% was fished out of the ocean and 70% was taken from landfills to prevent it from ending up in the ocean. The fabrics are sustainable, 100% recycled and environmentally friendly. All Waste2Wear I Ocean Plastic Project products can be identified by the Waste2Wear tag that not only states how many plastic bottles were incorporated into one product, but also how much less water, CO2 emissions and energy was needed to make the RPET fabric, compared to non-durable polyester.

Maissan: “The plastic pollution of oceans is a hot topic. We have been tackling this problem for more than a decade and specialize in processing recycled plastic. With the new collections of our cooperation partners in the Netherlands and Belgium, we are not only helping them to operate in a greener way, but also facilitating consumers to do their part in solving this problem.”

Waste2wear I Ocean Plastic Project
Waste2Wear headquartered in China is the largest plastic polluter. This project is an initiative of Waste2Wear and partners, and is supported by the Dutch consulate in Shanghai. The main goals are to investigate what kind of waste ends up in the water, to recycle what is taken from the ocean and the coast, and to replace harmful materials.  Maissan: “We want to identify, reduce and recycle the entire chain of litter – from start to finish. To do this, the collaboration between Dutch companies, Chinese NGOs, Donghua University and TU Delft is essential. Among other things, the universities are helping with research into the type of waste and into sustainable replacements for the plastic. Of course we should all prevent the plastic from ending up in the sea, or better still, from being produced in the first place. But this also requires a change in consumer attitude. For the time being, we are trying to make beautiful products out of the existing litter.”

About Waste2Wear
Waste2Wear (2007) was founded by Dutch textile engineer Monique Maissan. The company now operates in 9 countries and has over 100 employees. Waste2Wear creates 100% recycled and environmentally friendly fabrics from ‘post consumer’ plastic in a unique and innovative way. Waste2Wear has fixed partners throughout the chain and can guarantee absolute transparency. The company works together with Wehkamp, National Geographic, Cookie company, Claudia Sträter, Unilever and Joolz, among others.