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Taiwan Textile makers turn plastic waste from oceans into clothing

28 December, 2020
John Van Trieste

Taiwanese textile companies working under the direction of the Environmental Protection Administration have successfully created clothing from marine garbage.

The companies started with 84,000 tons of garbage gathered during beach cleanups in seven cities and counties around Taiwan. After sifting through the garbage for plastic PET bottles and shredding the bottles they found, the companies were left with 38,000 tons of shredded plastic to work with.

From this, they made 1,500 pieces of clothing. 96% of the material in the finished product comes from plastic bottles that had been in the ocean.