What is recycled plastic?

What does recycled plastic mean?

The official name for the recycled fabric used to make our bags is called 'RPET' or 'Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate'.

Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) is a common type of plastic used to make many plastic items including plastic bottles, yogurt containers, toothpaste tubes, and coffee cups. 

PET is a highly recyclable plastic, but unfortunately not much is recycled. Used plastic containers are washed, then shredded into pellets, which are then crushed and melted. Finally the melted plastic is spun into the thread that makes our bags.

The fabric we use in our bags has exactly the same strength and durability properties as virgin bag materials. RPET has the benefits of stopping plastic reaching landfills (best case) and oceans/beaches (worst case). The production of RPET fabric also has a lower carbon footprint than newly created bag fabric.

The recycled plastic fabric used in our bags has been certified by the 'Global Recycled Standard' cert number [CU 815618].