Recycled polyester activewear and swimwear are now everywhere. Major global brands sell leggings, swimsuits and puffer jackets with labels that claim they’re “made from recycled plastic bottles”. Millions of people buy these products believing they’re making a more sustainable choice.
The logic seems straightforward. Turning existing plastic waste into clothing is better than landfill.
However, the story is more complicated. What looks like circular recycling is often a one-way trip to landfill, revealing how recycled fabrics can mask environmental problems rather than solve them.
Where the plastic really comes from
Despite images of ocean clean-ups in glossy marketing, most recycled polyester used in fashion doesn’t come from marine waste or even old clothing. Instead, it comes from PET (polyethylene terephthalate) drink bottles.
The most recent Materials Market Report shows that about 98% of recycled polyester comes from plastic bottles. Textile-to-textile recycling accounts for less than 1% of the supply. And activewear is the single largest apparel use of recycled polyester in fashion supply chains.
Consequently, many garments marketed as “sustainable” rely on plastic taken from an effective recycling system, rather than addressing fashion’s own textile waste.
How PET bottle recycling works
PET, the plastic used to make drink bottles, is one of the most successfully recycled plastics. Decades of investment in collection, sorting and reprocessing have made bottle-to-bottle recycling possible in many countries.
When PET stays a bottle, it remains a high-value material.
What happens when bottles become clothes
That recycling loop breaks when PET becomes textile fibre. To make clothing, bottles are shredded and melted into polyester yarn, then dyed, blended and sewn into garments. Fibre blends, especially polyester mixed with elastane, make textile-to-textile recycling difficult.
Most textile recycling systems are mechanical and limited in scale. They struggle with blended fabrics. As a result, most polyester clothing can’t be recycled and ends up in landfill or incineration.
In circular economy terms, bottle-to-garment recycling is downcycling. Material quality drops, and future use is limited.
There’s also another environmental cost consumers rarely hear about. Mechanical recycling shortens polymer chains, resulting in more fragile, “hairy” fibres that snap easily during domestic washing. Studies show synthetic clothing sheds microplastic fibres, making it a major source of marine pollution.
Research suggests recycled polyester may shed more microfibres than virgin polyester (made new from fossil fuels rather than recycled from plastic).
Testing by Çukurova University in Turkey found recycled polyester shed 55% more microfibres than virgin polyester. These fibres were smaller and more brittle, increasing the likelihood they travel further in aquatic environments and enter our food chain.
Are there any benefits to recycled polyester?
Compared with virgin polyester, recycled polyester usually uses less energy and produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions during manufacturing. This is why initiatives like the 2025 Recycled Polyester Challenge have pushed brands to commit to sourcing 45% to 100% of their polyester from recycled sources.
However, these schemes have hit a major roadblock: the lack of technology to recycle old clothes. Because the infrastructure for textile-to-textile recycling doesn’t yet exist at scale, brands have been forced to “borrow” bottles to meet their targets.
This highlights the tension between immediate technical needs and genuine sustainability. The next step is building the actual technology for circularity, so brands can move past the trap of greenwashing.
A recycling ‘dead end’
When bottles become garments, they leave one of the few recycling systems that works well and enter another that can’t yet recycle most clothing. This shift is becoming a major legal flashpoint. The European Union’s 2030 Vision for Textiles mandates that by 2030, all textile products on the market must be durable, repairable, and made largely of recycled fibres.
As brands scramble to meet these targets, a global supply crunch is emerging. With new EU packaging regulations coming into effect from August 12 2026, companies will be required to make packaging recyclable and prepare for future recycled content requirements.
As a result, the beverage industry is fighting to keep its own plastic. They argue fashion is “leaking” high-quality recycled PET out of a closed loop to mask its own lack of infrastructure.
This highlights the core problem: recycling should reduce waste overall, not simply move it between industries.
Recycled polyester only works when clothes become new clothes. While investment is growing, the fashion industry’s reliance on bottles is a distraction. Until the fashion industry solves its own waste crisis rather than borrowing from the beverage sector, turning bottles into clothing remains a one-way path to waste.
Currently, the most sustainable outcome for a plastic bottle is to remain a bottle.
Caroline Swee Lin Tan, Associate Professor in Fashion Entrepreneurship, RMIT University and Saniyat Islam, Associate Professor, Fashion and Textiles, RMIT University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
LONDON (AP) — The models have packed up, the temporary runways taken down. London Fashion Week on Tuesday wrapped up five hectic days of women's wear shows, a whirlwind display of new colors and textures for next spring from big name designers and newcomers alike. London hosts a more eclectic collection of designers and labels than fashion weeks in New York, Milan and Paris, and the latest crop of spring and summer designs seen this week has been a big mish-mash: Futuristic metallic leathers at Burberry, sweet '50s pastels at Temperley, '70s disco fever at Jonathan Saunders, and '90s minimalism at quite a few other shows. While there was no overriding theme, there were micro-trends set to make their way to high street stores come spring. All-white and monochrome outfits were seen everywhere, as were pretty confectionery shades of mint and lemon. Futuristic, shiny materials like plastic or fabrics with a foil-like, iridescent or even holographic sheen were popular, as was the use of sheer, feminine layers in organza, chiffon or mesh. On Tuesday, things kicked off with '70s-inspired florals, wide-leg trousers and mannish suits at luxury label Mulberry, best-known for its leather handbags. The collection, delivered with a humorous British flair, nodded to several of the season's popular trends: Sleek trouser suits, all-season leather, metallic jacquard, and head-to-toe ice-cream pastel shades. Model-turned-designer Roksanda Illincic followed with a collection of dresses with simple feminine shapes and minimal detailing, leaving her use of beautiful color combinations and glossy fabrics to do the talking. Day Five also saw collections by a handful of younger and adventurous designers. Simone Rocha, the daughter of British fashion institution John Rocha, deftly combined schoolgirl innocence and tough attitude, while maverick duo Meadham Kirchoff sent the party home with a spectacularly whimsical show of Marie Antoinette fashion gone mad. Tuesday's shows ended a week that saw models and celebrities like Kate Moss and One Direction's Harry Styles flocking to the catwalks' front row. Lady Gaga stole the limelight Sunday with a starring turn at milliner Philip Treacy's comeback show. The fashion brigade moves on to Milan for more shows that begin Wednesday. Paris Fashion Week begins next Tuesday. MULBERRY Luxury brand: Mulberry has ditched most of the playfulness in its recent seasons, showcasing a spring collection that's still quirky but definitely grown-up. Mulberry's show at London's swanky Claridge's hotel was decorated with dozens of garden gnomes and fake geckos crawling on rose bushes - a typically wacky atmosphere of pretty English garden meets exotic creatures. But appearances were deceptive, and the clothes themselves were more sophisticated than the setting suggested. Creative director Emma Hill sent models down the catwalk in oversized leather biker jackets and mannish tuxedos in navy, black and white. The 1970s-inspired collection had floral embroidery, floor-length skirts, flower buttons and high-waisted wide legs, updated with metallic jacquard printed with mini-flowers and geckos. Leather separates and trouser suits balanced flirty pleated skirts. There were muted brown ensembles along with head-to-toe sweet pastels in mint and peach - including pastel-colored shoes and handbags, the brand's bestselling item. ROKSANDA ILLINCIC: Taking her inspiration from artists, Roksanda Illincic's catwalk show had plenty of ensembles for the woman who wants to look stylish without trying too hard. Simple, streamlined shapes like tailored shifts and breezy A-line dresses came in high-impact color combinations that really popped: Tangerine with cobalt, mango, dirty pink or white. Sometimes all the colors came together on one dress, like a modern abstract painting. Models cradled oversized satin clutch bags and wore patent courts with multi-colored block heels. The show, staged in the Savoy Hotel's glamorous ballroom, ended with a series of ensembles made in a glossy, laminated organza. Illincic counts U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and Britain's Kate Middleton among fans of her sleek style. Her show had many of her popular signature elements: Beautiful colors, high-waisted silhouettes, feminine bell sleeves and modest mid-calf or ankle-grazing hemlines. But this season the designer said she wanted to shake up the elegance with casual wear - like taking an evening dress shape and making it out of T-shirt or jersey materials. "It gives an element of fun, something unexpected," she said. SIMONE ROCHA: Budding talent Simone Rocha has her designer dad's giant shoes to fill, but she seems to be taking it all in her stride. The 26-year-old showcased her latest spring collection at London Fashion Week Tuesday, a collection of all-white outfits, sheer cut-out panels, neons and leather that mixed schoolgirl innocence with cool attitude. The collection started with dazzling white button-up shirts and boyish shapes in Broderie Anglaise, but the prim look was soon undercut by thigh-revealing, irregular shaped sheer panels on the front or back of skirts. High-collared, neat shapes in muted shades of butter and toffee followed, but soon things were shaken up with a pale sundress overlaid with a high-shine neon yellow PVC plastic, all-over metallic gold foil vests and skirts, and floral-crocheted skirts and oversized jackets in fluorescent yellow and neon coral. Models wore mannish brogues with clear plastic soles and heels, a design that has been worn by celebrities including Rihanna and proved to be Rocha's best-selling product. Rocha debuted at London Fashion Week in 2010. MEADHAM KIRCHOFF: English-French design duo Edward Meadham and Benjamin Kirchhoff are known for staging riotously fun and different shows, and this season they met expectations with a collection piled high with over-the-top, Marie Antoinette style corsets, bodices, bows and frills. Although the invitation and the opening track told of a humorous "damsel in distress" theme, the models were more like fairy godmothers with an enchanted wardrobe. Acting sleepy or deep in thought in their theatrical outfits, models drifted around stands set up on the catwalk and plucking roses and cupcakes from them. There were big puffy sleeves, thigh-high boots, feather gloves and big skirts layered over skinny trousers, all embellished with lashings of bows and jewels. Not very practical, but certainly shows the fun and entertaining face of London fashion. 
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