With the help of advanced technology, bottles can be transformed into clothing. The idea behind the initiative was to practice what Bisleri International preaches that PET bottles post use are not waste
Bisleri International, the company that makes branded bottled water, has embarked on a campaign to educate citizens about the importance of recycling and up-cycling plastic through uniforms made for their sales team from used polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. Considered a great initiative to create sustainable fabrics, these shirts are crafted from threads derived entirely from recycled bottles. “Across India, 5,000 employees are presently wearing these uniforms, upholding the vision of sustainability,” a press release states. Plastic bottles are still thought to be a threat to the environment but in reality they are not.
With the help of advanced technology, bottles can be transformed into clothing. The idea behind the initiative was to practice what Bisleri International preaches that PET bottles post use are not waste. They are valuable. In fact, where old newspapers fetch Rs. 6-8 per kg, single-use PET bottles fetch a value of Rs. 15 per kg post use. It’s a misconception that bottles lie in a dump yard to become landfill. Water bottles are like gold among all packaging materials. Currently in India, 90% of all PET is recycled for making yarn, T-shirts, shirts, etc. Bisleri International, through their ‘Bottles for Change’ initiative collected millions of bottles and around 10 lakh bottles were used to make uniform for all staff of the company.
The Process
With the current development in recycling and up-cycling technology, the collected bottles were directly sent to the recycler. The plastic bottles were crushed and converted into flakes. The flakes were converted to fibre in a conversion machine. PET fibres are dyed in the required shades and mixed with cotton for shirting and with viscose for trousers. It took 40 bottles to make a shirt and around 45 bottles to make a trouser. After mixing, the fibre is converted into yarn on a ring frame spinning machine. Once the yarn is ready, it is converted into fabric through a weaving process on rapier and air jet looms.
After the weaving is completed, the fabric is sent for washing and final processing. It is moved to the tailoring unit for stitching the final uniform. Commenting on this initiative, Anjana Ghosh, Director (Marketing and OSR), Bisleri International, said: “People hate plastic because they are not aware about the feats of recycling. It’s a huge misconception that water bottles add to the environmental pollution. In India we have a robust recycling industry, which produces high-value fabric, shoes and other products from PET bottles. We thought we should practice what we preach about plastic not being waste. Hence, our entire staff members across India are engaged in bursting the myths around plastics.”
About Bottles for Change
As a campaign, Bottles for Change aims to create awareness among citizens about importance of plastic recycling. When plastic is discarded into water bodies such as rivers or the seas, they cause pollution and are a threat to aquatic life. But plastic has value even after use. Just clean it, collect it and send it directly for recycling. “Through this initiative we ensure channelization of all kinds of used clean plastic for recycling, thus ensuring a greener cleaner environment,” the press release adds.
Bisleri International has engaged with an NGO called Parisar Bhagni Vikas Sangh (PBVS), a social enterprise called Sampurna Earth in Mumbai and recycler Dalmia Polypro Industries Ltd. which are associated with the plastic agents or scrap collection groups in Mumbai.