Polyester: everybody loves it. Why?

History of clothing fabrics in Europe

1930 invention of chemical fibers: The technology makes fabric fibers out of petroleum. DuPont was the 1st company producing nylon in 1939. The success started in 1970 when plastic fibers changed the whole fiber market. Chemical fibers replace cotton with a market share of 80% at 4 Mio. Tons annual production. Today the global market share of cotton is 30% with 26,5 Mio. Tons.

In the 19. century there were mostly wool and linen in Central Europe. Cotton took over in the fiber market in the 20. century due to the industrialization and invention of machines for the production of cotton in the US [1].

Every human being purchases 14 pieces of cloth every year. In Germany the amout is 60 pieces of cloth annually [2]. Traditionally there are two seasons for cloth, spring, and fall. With its maximal shortened production timelines and vast marketing power, the fast-fashion industry has created 50-100 micro seasons in the last ten years. We always have to buy more, wear more, and trash more.

1. Fibers from chemical production

All named chemical fibers are made of virgin petroleum, which means new raw material. Plus the wood fibers. Geopolitics is the same critical as for car fuels like gas or diesel. Till today raw oil for the fabrics industry was much cheaper than all other materials like plant-based or animal origin (wool, satin, leather).

The fashion market has doubled in the past 20 years, from 58 Mio T (2000) to 109 Mio T (2020). The prognosis till 2030 shows a rise to 148 mioT in total. Thus every person will purchase 17 pieces of cloth annually from today 14.

2. Wear your cloth: chemical fibers in use

We wear cloth to protect our skin and body: it keeps us warm and dry. Functional sportswear has additional properties: it drains water, sweat, or smell. Plant fibers like cotton or hemp provide the same or better functions; also, wool is very powerful. Hemp and wool have very high capacities to keep water and a perfect smell reduction.

Wearing comfort: Chemical fibers have no breathing capacity. Water or sweat can not be absorbed but is drained outside the fabric away from the body. Many people know the smell of a used polyester sports shirt. A polyester blouse sticks to the body in summer or gets loaded electrostatic. Chemical fibers can irritate sensitive skin. The advantage of plastic fibers is their lightweight, and they dry faster.

Durability: Polyester has long durability, and the cloth stays in form without shrinking when handled correctly. Recommended laundry temperature is a maximum of 40°; hot temperatures can melt the fibers. So-called pilling is a problem in polyester. The fibers tend to break due to their smooth surface, pilling results on the cloth. Polyester fleece is an excellent example of filling; an older used piece mostly has many broken fibers. There are special fabric treatments like „no-pilling“ or „anti-pilling” which helps to reduce the pilling of fabrics.

Environment: we got two significant problems with polyester: the petroleum production process and the cleansing of such clothes. Every laundry cycle breaks fibers. We wash out microplastic into the wastewater, and the sewage plant can filter only some of the microplastic. Partly, they stay in the water and get carried into rivers, oceans, and soil. And then animals take in microplastics with their food

What can we do to prevent microplastic? Laundry bags (i.e., Guppy friend) reduce the breaking of fibers but have little impact. Best are filters for washing machines, i.e.,PlanetCare from Slowenia[3] ,with scientifically proven evidence. Greenpeace Austria[4] did a washing test with polyester blouses of 8 fast-fashion brands. All pieces loose microplastic with every laundry between 4,3 – 18 mg/piece and cycle. This sums up to 126 Tons of microplastic for Austria per year. The textile industry is responsible for ca. 30% of microplastic globally.

3. What happens to chemical fibers after their use?

Recycling is a huge topic for the whole industy. We have enough new fabrics (pre-consumer waste) and tons of used clothes (post-consumer waste). Why don’t we take fabrics and cloth to produce new shirts and jeans? Most recent statistics show: it’s not so simple.

In 2020 we used only 0,5 % recycled polyester fabrics from pre-and post-consumer waste. The amount of 0,54 Mio tons recycled polyester of 109 Mio tons cloth in total. PET bottles get recycled (7,6% in 2020), and there are initiatives to make fabrics from milk, fungi, and pineapple leaves. All raw materials are non-eatable anymore or made for the tests. Very good projects but on a very low level.

Ocean waste, i.e., old fisher nets, is a potential source for recycled polyamide. There’s a certificate for ocean plastic: OBP (Ocean Bound Plastic)[5]. It’s essential to understand the connection between commercial fishing, plastic waste, and the collection of such for new products. Recycled polyamide is a neglectable amount of 1,9%, the raw material oil is too cheap, and the processes are technically challenging.

Sustainable cellulose polymer fibers are made by the Austrian brand Lenzing with their patented Edelweiss Fibre Technology. These are viscose fabrics from beechwood-cellulose produced in an almost closed cycle. Another exciting project is fibers made from rhizines oil[6], biological material with even improved properties compared to mineral oil.

All innovations together show on one side that we know reasonable solutions already. On the other side are, all these projects almost not visible compared to the standard of petroleum-based polyester. New technology is expensive in the beginning. Only if we go to the mass market will we be able to produce sustainable cloth at reasonable costs.

Today almost all used cloth end up in land-fill (90%). Plant-fibers dissolve or compost rather quickly. Petroleum-based fibers will stay for a very long time, several hundred years. Or they get burned and produce more carbon dioxide.

4. What is the solution for polyester?

The prognosis shows that the estimated 100 Mio tons of chemical fibers in 2030 (from 68 Mio T 2020) can not be substituted by cotton, cellulose, or wool fibers. Recycled polyester reduces the production of new products made from virgin petroleum. The problem of microplastic is even getting worse because these fibers break much more.

Hunger for fashion: more cloth in new designs, materials and colors are the biggest problem. We should wear every piece of cloth for a very long time and repair it. Start giving away the good cloth you don’t like anymore, swapping, or selling. Somebody is happy with the good old piece. Substitute your next treat of cloth shopping with going out in nature or meeting friends. Build your awareness of the value of clothes and the impact of consumption—a perfect start for reduction and sustainability.

And why do we love this material so much that we carry 2 of 3 pieces made of plastic? There’s less weight and good transport of water/sweat away from the skin, which is an advantage for sportswear. For all other pieces of cloth, it’s more likely that we don’t know what’s inside. Start reading care labels and reduce shopping: for this one world, for our health, environment: work – love – nature.

[1] https://www.planet-wissen.de/technik/werkstoffe/stoff/index.html

Carbon Footprint of Textile and Clothing Products, April 2015, DOI:10.1201/b18428-10/ In book: Handbook of Sustainable Apparel Production (pp.141-166), Editors: S. Muthu

[2] https://www.welt.de/print/welt_kompakt/print_wirtschaft/article202681688/Bei-Mode-schaltet-der-Verstand-aus.html

[3] https://planetcare.org/en/

[4] https://greenpeace.at/assets/uploads/publications/presse/Fact%20Sheet_Waschtest%20Plastikfasern.pdf

[5] https://www.obpcert.org

[6] https://www.fulgar.com/eng/products/evo