Natural Environment Blog

Ecospun is a polyester fiber made from 100% recycled plastic bottles. It can be used to create various fabrics, including fleece fabrics. The Ecospun fiber can be used by itself, or it can be blended with other fibers such as cotton, wool, and tencel.

Environmental Benefits of Ecospun

Ecospun enables billions of plastic containers to be recycled each year, instead of them being buried in landfill.

Currently, less than 30% of plastic bottles produced in the US are recycled. Given the fact that over 40 billion plastic bottles are produced in the US each year, this is a huge environmental problem. Furthermore, it takes over 700 years for each of these plastic containers to decompose!

What is Ecospun used for?

Ecospun, whether by itself or blended, can be used in many products. Here are some examples:

• clothing (eg, vests, jackets, pants)
• blankets
• carpets
• wall coverings
• automobile interiors
• various home furnishings
• fiberfill (eg, filling material for cushions)
• craft felt

So chances are, thousands people around the world are wearing recycled plastic don’t even realize it!

How is Ecospun Made?

Here’s how the Ecospun process goes:

1. Plastic containers are collected from curbside and community recycling centers
2. The containers are sorted by type and color
   
3. All labels and caps are stripped off
   
4. The plastic containers are then washed
   
5. Then they’re crushed
   
6. Then they’re chopped into flake
   
7. The flakes are then melted and extruded to create fiber
8. The fiber is crimped, cut, drawn, then stretched into the desired length (based on its strength), then baled.

Fortrel^® Ecospun^™ is a registered trademark of Wellman Inc, and is manufactured by Foss Manufacturing Company.