Recycled polyester
Polyester (PET) made from recycled feedstock, mostly plastic bottles and increasingly textile waste. It's the workhorse of running gear: light, quick-drying and durable.
How it’s made
- 1Bottles or textile waste are collected, sorted, cleaned and shredded.
- 2Usually mechanically recycled (melted into chips). Chemical recycling depolymerises the material.
- 3Melt-spun into filaments, then knitted into technical fabrics.
What to look for
- Certification of the recycled content (GRS, RCS)
- Textile-to-textile recycled content is rarer and more meaningful than bottle-based
Pros
- Quick drying
- Light and durable
- Holds shape
Cons
- Holds body odour
- Sheds microfibres
- Not biodegradable
Typical use
- Running:
- Singlets, shorts, jackets.
- Streetwear:
- Track jackets, fleece.
Sustainability
Recycling reduces virgin fossil input. Critics note that bottle-to-fibre takes bottles out of a closed bottle loop and that the garments are hard to recycle again.