Modi Magic in Parliament
He performed another act of Modi magic today while wearing a Modi jacket. What makes the Prime Minister’s sky blue jacket special? Recycled plastic bottles were used to create the garment.
On February 6, Modi arrived at the Parliament wearing the Jacket that had been given to him by the Indian Oil Corporation during the Bengaluru-based India Energy Week.
Hardeep Singh Puri, the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister, thanked the Prime Minister on Twitter for wearing an eco-friendly jacket, which brought attention to the jacket’s significance.
Netizens applaud Modi for raising awareness of sustainable fashion, but the environmental advantages of plastic-made clothing and footwear are once again making headlines.
It takes only six recycled plastic bottles to make a t-shirt and a body suit, and nine recycled plastic bottles to make a pair of casual clothes and sleep suits.
Trending fashion from recycled plastic
Indian Oil Corporation, the company that created the jacket for Modi, characterises the production procedure in this manner. Plastic bottles are collected, cleaned, dried, and then crushed into little fragments. In order to create polyester staple fibre, the chips are heated and spun via a spinneret. A crimping machine then gives the polyester staple fibre a fuzzy texture. After being spun into yarn, this polyester staple fibre is used to weave polyester fabric.
The procedure is comparable to that used by other companies that recycle plastic into garments and footwear. Crushed plastic bottles into small pellets etc.
To create shoes and bags, these granules are melted and purified. As previously explained, the pellets are filtered and turned into yarns. A variety of fabrics can be made using these threads. Talented designers are what is required right now.
The Rise of Recycled Plastic Fashion
Recently, an increasing number of companies and designers have chosen this recycling option. Celebrities and major brands have recently embraced sustainability.
The footwear brand Adidas is made entirely of recovered ocean trash. By 2024, Adidas wants to completely switch over to recycled polyester.
Similar to this, 60% of Nike Company products contain “some recycled material.” As the largest recycler of poly in the business, Nike claims to keep more than a billion plastic bottles out of landfills annually.
Recycled plastic has also been used in the apparel of high-end designers like Prada, Gucci, and Stella McCartney.
Beneficial to the Environment
The largest issue the world is currently dealing with is plastic waste. 85% of marine litter is made of plastic. By 2040, the UN Environment Program projects that there will be roughly three times as much plastic in the ocean, resulting in an annual increase of 23 million to 37 million tonnes of trash. 5 crore rupees have been set aside in Kerala’s budget specifically for collecting marine garbage.
Recycling is one answer to this issue. Unfortunately, just 9% of plastic garbage is recycled as of right now. Utilizing recycled plastic instead of freshly manufactured plastic minimises the amount of plastic in the environment and consumes significantly less energy. For example, freshly manufactured polyester takes a lot of heat, and the two primary constituents are coal and ethylene (a derivative of petroleum).
However, worries regarding recycled plastic products don’t stop there. Plastic is still plastic, despite the fact that it has been recycled. Microplastics, which are minute particles that come off of synthetic materials like polyester during washing or use, are a source of concern. Scientific research also explains why these tiny plastic particles are finding their way into our food, air, and water supplies.
Therefore, recycled plastic clothing is a step in the direction of a greener and healthier world, even though recycling cannot be a permanent solution to the plastic problem.