In Dutch talk show Radar of 7 October, our director Maria Westerbos said to presenter Antoinette Hertsenberg: ‘Fleece? No way, get rid of it.’ And then a discussion began at the Plastic Soup Foundation. After all, what is the most environmentally friendly way to deal with your old fleece sweaters? Not an easy question.
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Fleece or ‘polar fleece’ was invented as a light-weight replacement for wool in the late 1970s, keeping us warm in the winter. But it’s now coming back to haunt us. Why? You may ask. Fleece is commonly made of polyester, and polyester is a synthetic fabric. And synthetic clothes are just one more of the hazards that are threating the environment and, as we have recently learned, human health.
What makes polyester fleece a clothing item of high-risk is the way it’s made: fleece yarn is very weak because the fibers are very short, and they come off easier than from other clothing items. Just by wearing and washing fleece, thousands and millions of these plastic fibers are shed and end up in the environment, including the air around us. More than one-third of the microplastics in the ocean come from synthetic clothing. Plastic microfibers have been found in food, water, and air.
But don’t run to the bin with all your polyester fleece just yet! If you already own a polar fleece, there are other things you can do to protect yourself and the environment.
This is what you can do:
Laura Díaz Sánchez – Microfiber campaigner
For more information about microfibers go to our campaign website Ocean Clean Wash.
Plastic Soup Foundation releases the new and free Beat the Microbead app! The app uses machine learning software to read the list of ingredients on packaging and it can identify more than 500 different microplastics.
Without government intervention, there will never be a circular economy for plastics. The coronavirus pandemic is leading to meager oil prices. As a result, virgin (primary) plastic is available at rock bottom prices.
Companies don’t have to make promises because it is already legally mandatory. Since 1994, packaging has had to comply with so-called essential requirements laid down in the European Packaging Directive. One of these requirements is that the weight of the packaging is limited to the minimum required.
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