Chemists are hacking fashion to save the planet | Just Might Work by Freethink
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- Опубліковано 19 лис 2021
- Fast fashion is endangering the planet. These chemists are fighting back | Shay Sethi, CEO of Ambercycle
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Our clothes don’t die - or, at least the non-biodegradable textiles that they’re made of don’t usually get a second life.
In 2018 alone, 11.3 million tons of those textile mixtures waste ended up in landfills, the EPA says. And the lion’s share of that waste comes from clothing - over a billion garments worth.
Fast fashion - a term used to describe an industry that relies on fast manufacturing and styles that quickly go out of vogue - is reliant on these textiles. A June 2021 report by London’s Royal Society for Arts (RSA) found that more than 80% of some offerings on websites contained new plastic in them, and despite recent media attention, clothing companies are still slow to adopt truly recycled garments into their product lines.
While there are clothes made from recycled polyester, calling them “recycled” is a bit disingenuous - in fashion, most polyester recycling pulls the plastic from water bottles, not clothing
Ambercycle CEO Shay Sethi is deploying a different, proprietary form of recycling, one that separates materials at the molecular level. It’s called chemical recycling, and the technique allows Ambercycle to pull plastic fibers from textiles, leaving the fibers unharmed and ready to be used in new clothes.
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How do you think we should make clothing sustainable?
Nobody needs 20 pairs of shoes, 14 jackets, and 60 shirts.
The things that brainwash us to think we need so much fast-fashion? The brainwasher need to be destroyed.
How much energy does the process take, and how much water, compared to using non-recycled materials? These are important questions when evaluating any new process.
Sure, they should have talk about that in this video.
The water "lost" is probably minimal. Agriculture is much more wasteful with it. I guess people are ok with micro plastics going into every body of water just to "save" water.
Great questions! There are some answers to these on their FAQ page (ambercycle.com/faq/) though they don't get into specific numbers.
"How much less energy is used in the Ambercycle process?"
"We are actively working on producing a high-quality Life Cycle Analysis of our process, especially as we ramp up production in our plant. So far we see a significant reduction in energy use and CO2 emissions through the Ambercycle process as compared to virgin polyester production. Energy and emission savings exist both from the production of the raw material as well disposal of the finished good. For example: material that is Ambercycled is not getting landfilled or combusted into greenhouse gases. "
"Are there any impacts of your process on the environment?"
"Ambercycle’s mission is to end ‘waste’ in fashion, therefore all of our processes must contribute to that goal.
Emissions from Ambercycle process plants are minimal compared to the vast emissions savings associated with avoiding petrochemical polyester production. We also purify all raw materials that enable our process, allowing us to reuse them for further cycles. In this way the economic and environmental aspects of having a clean process go hand-in-hand."
Fast fashion doesn't just create huge amounts of waste. Cotton is grown in India, shipped to China to be processed, then to Bangladesh to be sown, then to Columbia to be tagged, then to the US to be sold. Then 10% of this clothing gets thrown away, making all those greenhouse emissions in transport, all that under-payed labour, all that water and pesticides, useless. Fast fashion shouldn't keep growing. It needs to end.
This is so cool, I want to see this company get huge. We need to get to a circular economy asap
Glad you liked it! Really exciting to see a lot of new circular economy startups emerging, hoping it's a matter of time before they can make it work in many industries at scale!
Slow fashion: Go to the salvation army to shop for clothes. Brand new T-shirt except says conference 2014 but it was never worn. Clothes should be worn as many times in public as it can till it starts to look tarnished then it's laze at home category clothes, then it becomes dirty work clothing, to a rag, then to recycling.
Great advice. The full phrase is "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" but often people focus on just the third step. While perhaps not as exciting, the first two steps in the funnel are even more important and are something we can all do right now.
This is great for reducing waste. But as someone who has allergies, I wish there were just more natural fiber choices. Polyester is awful. Nylon and spandex are only slightly more irritating. I am not saying polyester or synthetic fabric clothing should not exist, I just wish it was not so pervasive.The amount of natural fiber clothing is sparse and it's expensive.
I still have clothes from 10 years ago, so I am not part of this problem
What about the plastic that is released into the water cycle each time these clothes are washed?
agreed, and I personally despise the shift to stupid blends of poly or spandex. has become much harder to get 100% cotton clothing even tho many synthetic fibers mess with skin.
Good idea! But what happens with the rest of the "soup" after they take out of it the recycled polyester?
Don't think it's a perfect solution, but better than being dumped or burned
that was my thought as well, they skipped the part where they solved the challenges? why is not everyone doing it? what did they do differently?
Great question. There's a general answer on their FAQ page (ambercycle.com/faq/):
"Are there any impacts of your process on the environment?"
"Ambercycle’s mission is to end ‘waste’ in fashion, therefore all of our processes must contribute to that goal.
Emissions from Ambercycle process plants are minimal compared to the vast emissions savings associated with avoiding petrochemical polyester production. We also purify all raw materials that enable our process, allowing us to reuse them for further cycles. In this way the economic and environmental aspects of having a clean process go hand-in-hand."
What effects do these resynthesised materials have on the human body? Companies should always assess impact on the human systems first, and then the earthly environment.
I love this. Maybe one of the best things I've seen. Well done! So much more to do though.
That means a lot! Appreciate your kind words.
Great channel. This year was the first I realized clothes can harm the environment.
What an amazing concept. The editing is fabulous.
So glad you liked it, thanks for watching!
Saving the world in the smartest way possible I love it
Is not saving it. :(
This is a great initiative! Really loving the things your channel is covering ✌🏻❤️🌎
So glad to hear! Thanks for watching, really appreciate it!
Cycora sells t shirts that are made with 20% cycora fabric and 80% polyester
Is there a playlist for this background music? Also the lighting
they should sell these devices so people at home can do it too
Hopefully they keep it affordable so it clicks on
Great video, very interesting!
Glad you liked it, thanks very much!
Recycling is costly and would most likely have a carbon footprint. Just tax plastic production to force big corps to look for alternatives. Tax it as much as required.
Makes very good sense, I hope their philosophy is adopted by all the clothing manufacturers
How do you fund a company like that. Very curious to know!
I've been thinking this for a while. Wish people had the brains to be resourceful. We consume to much it triggers parts of the brain that's addicting. Too late to turn back now
We don't need new clothes every few weeks. Monks wear the same clothes and they're happy as..
Hey I noticed a weird thing when I accidentally got hair stuck in a hydraulic press
The hair flattened and looked a little like a shiny,plasticky looking material
Could that material replace plastic with some modifications?
Now this is why I started watching freethink
Cheers, always good to see you Wovasteen!
@@freethink 💖💖💖
i commented something here a while ago where has it gone wtf :(
To the ^incredible person* seeing this, I wish you all the best in life❤ don't over blame yourself, accept things and go forward. Don't let others define what “success” is for you. Get up, learn the skills needed and get after it, all the keys to a happy life is in your hands. Keep pushing.
Why do you copy/paste this on every Freethink video?
Hmm polyester is plastic, I doubt you can recycle it indefinitely. During the cycle you'll create micro plastics and quality degrades. Some recycling processes is false green.
Agreed, recycling biodegradable fabrics would be better. There is some recycling with cotton, wool and Lyocell. Hemp and linen can also have a relatively low environmental impact.
just dont buy new fashion
They should focus on using mushrooms to break plastic down into food. A yeast with genes for it would make it very efficient
Will from Hannibal?
Why just polyester?
Their goal is to eventually cover all textile materials. At the moment, they are focusing on polyester and handing off the cotton they salvage from the process to other partners who can reuse or recycle it. ambercycle.com/faq/
You had me until “Digital Passport?”
Fast Fashion Bann simple
The thumping music is annoying.
I’m seriously skeptical this is commercially viable. Sounds like a green subsidy company.
there’s already a handful of athletic wear companies that turn plastic water bottles into fabric, and they’ve proven to be very commercially viable in the mid-high price range. I think they’ll figure it out.
@@beedoo000 I hope so, that would be awesome!
making garbage luxurius