Recycling and green initiatives are increasingly becoming an essential part of modern society. We live on a planet of finite resources and, in order to keep enjoying the benefits of those resources, we need to find ways to maintain them. In recent years, advancements and conveniences have developed around Recycling paper, glass, and many plastic products.

Until recently, however, one area was largely overlooked: textiles. According to the EPA, nearly 5 percent of all landfill space is occupied by textiles. Now, many efforts are being made to recycle and reclaim Fabrics, both natural and synthetic, to give them new life.

Fabrics and the trade show floor

Take a bird’s eye view of any trade show and you’ll see fabulous exhibits, colorful tables, waving banners, and eye-catching signage. Do you know what the vast majority of these have in common? Polyester.

Polyester is widely used at trade shows for table covers, banners, flags, wall graphics, tension frame systems, and more. It is the go-to festival fabric for several reasons:

• It resists wrinkling. You don’t want your graphics or tablecloths to look rumpled and unprofessional. That sends a bad message about you and your company. Yet, packing, shipping, and unpacking these items from show to show can put a great deal of strain on a fabric. Polyesters tend to look great as soon as they are unpacked and need little care. Which is also useful for the next bullet.
• It is machine washable.The last thing you want to worry about at the end of a show is taking a bunch of items to a dry cleaner. After a busy show, there’s bound to be some soda or wine spilled or dirt tracked on some fabric. Polyester fabric is stain resistant, so you don’t need to worry about special treatments. You can just toss that in a washing machine on cold, dry at a low temperature, and it’s ready to go. Plus, the colors are much less likely to fade after repeated washings than natural fibers.
• It is flame resistant. If you have something printed that you want to hang or drape – outside, inside, wherever – there is likely an ordinance that requires it to be flame resistant. And, in those extremely rare insistences where these is no such prerequisite, it’s in your best interest to make safety a top priority.

However, there is a flip side to these benefits: polyester is a man-made product. It’s produced from petroleum, specifically petrochemical products with names like ethylene glycol and dimethyl terephthalate. Basically, crude oil (aka, gasoline). And, as you are likely aware, gasoline is in somewhat short supply, and we are resorting to some interesting methods, like fracking, just to get it out of the earth.

So, roughly 36 million tons of polyester are created every year from a non-renewable resource that impacts the environmental during its extraction process.

In addition, the production process, called polymerization, is somewhat complex with an environmental impact. The oil is refined, which breaks it into chemicals to create polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polymer. This is then extruded and spun into the long, hydrophobic molecules that are polyester fibers.

In other words, it’s plastic. Polyester is plastic.

Granted, a lot of research has gone into making sure polyester no longer looks or feels like plastic. (Polyester needed a bit of an image rehab after the initially non-breathable fabric caused several disco-related mishaps – fashion and otherwise – in the 1970s.)

According to information found on The Textile Exchange website, 65 to 70 percent of global PET production is used for textiles, and the majority of the remaining 25 to 30 percent is used to manufacture PET beverage bottles, i.e., plastic water and soda bottles.

Yup, more PET is produced to make fabric than plastic water bottles – and I’m sure you’re aware of the campaign to recycle those products. According to the EPA, 85 percent of all textile waste goes to landfills, and about 68 pounds per person winds up in the landfill each year.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. Due to its durable nature, polyester actually uses less energy to wash and clean it – and this fabric can be recycled.

How is polyester recycled?

There are two methods for recycling textiles: fiber recycling and polymer recycling. (I should note that this is specifically looking at the “manufacturing” process of recycling. There are other methods for recycling fabrics, such as converting thread-worn clothing into rags and donating clothes to thrift stores and charities, that are equally important and benefit the environment, as well as your fellow man.)

Fiber recycling is used for natural fabrics. A garment is shredded into fibers that are typically blended with other recycled and new fibers to make yarn (which is then utilized to create new clothes, carpets, etc.).

Polymer recycling is for polyesters. First, these fabrics are shredded. Then, they are melted down and turned into plastic pellets. Finally, these pellets are spun into fibers that are used to create new polyester fabrics.

In other words, recycling doesn’t just have to happen at the end of the fabric’s lifecycle. There are polyester fabrics available that utilize 40 to 100 percent recycled content.

And it’s not just old fabric that is utilized in these recycled fabrics. PET bottles (plastic water and soda bottles), old garments, and industrial polyester waste (castoffs from polymerization plants, fiber producers, tire cord manufacturers, etc.) are all used to create recycled polyester.

Aside from the environmental benefits, there is little difference between recycled polyester and virgin polyester (the term for new polyester that uses no recycled components). The same benefits listed in the first section – wrinkle resistant, machine washable, flame resistant – apply to both variations of polyester.

Your recycling options

Polyester recycling – and recycled polyester – does help to alleviate some of the environmental effects involved in the manufacture of this material.

If that is important to you, there are a number of steps you can take.

First, simply be aware of the amount of polyester in the materials you are using, both virgin and recycled. As the saying goes, knowledge is power. Simply knowing this fact will help you make informed decisions about your purchases.

Next, find a recycling area near you. Some clothing manufactures, like The North Face, have polyester recycling programs in specific stores around the country. You may be able to strike a deal with these companies. Also, your production house may have some options and advice. And organizations like The Council for Textile Recycling and The Textile Exchange may be able to help.

Don’t forget, since these materials end up shredded and melted in the recycling process, it’s ok to recycle distressed items. Generally, their condition does not matter.

Finally, try to repurpose old tablecloths and graphics. Whether they are outdated or worn out, these items may not be worthy to hang in an exhibit any longer. But that doesn’t mean you can’t use them as extra padding in shipping crates. There are plenty of creative ways to reuse these items.

For even more information about your options for recycling – and recycled – fabrics, reach out to The Trade Group at 800-343-2005.

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