Plastic bottles are collected, processed and transformed by local companies into eco-fabrics, which are improving in quality and drawing worldwide attention. The showroom at Super Textile Corp.’s factory-office complex at Taoyuan Youth Industrial Park rarely fails to impress visitors when they see fabrics, clothes, blankets and scarves placed alongside discarded polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, which provide the raw material for the finished goods. An accompanying flow chart shows the process through which these used plastic containers are reborn, morphing them into a totally different form. While pointing at a grayish scarf, Alex Lo, Super Textile’s managing director, says “It’s made from six PET bottles. But you don’t think of PET bottles when you see it.” Lo’s company, which has been manufacturing fabrics in Taiwan for 34 years, started to think about producing fabrics from recycled raw materials in 1996, a time when society was becoming increasingly concerned about disposing of garbage in an environmentally sound manner. “Back then, PET bottles were causing a lot of problems in Taiwan, such as blocking gutters during floods,” Lo says. “Putting them in landfills was even worse. It takes at least 400 years for plastics to degrade.” As a result, in 1997 Super Textile began to develop what has become known in the industry as “eco-fabrics,” which are made from recycled PET bottles. The company then began manufacturing eco-fabric shopping bags and caps, most of which were purchased by government agencies and civic groups in support of Super Textile’s environmental protection efforts. The manufacturing pipeline for eco-fabrics starts with garbage trucks and individual garbage collectors, which together constitute the upstream part of the production chain through providing waste bottles, or “raw materials.” The midstream part includes processing plants like those operated by Oriental Resources Development Ltd., which produces flakes and chips, as well as fabric makers such as Super Textile. At the downstream end are apparel manufacturers like Far Eastern New Century Corp., which supplies garments for Nike, Adidas and other brand names. The recycling of PET bottles to make fibers was actually begun in Taiwan in 1989 by the Far Eastern Group and the Shinkong Group, two big manufacturers that have provided large quantities of plastic containers for the local beverage industry since 1984, although they are mainly known to the public as heavyweights in the textile and apparel manufacturing sectors. The two companies jointly established Taiwan’s first plant dedicated to recycling the

  海洋廢棄物議題近年受國際關注，環保署今（28）日發表原料含量達96%海廢寶特瓶製成的「潯寶衣」，作為國內資源回收產業與紡織業合組國家隊的初試啼聲，以展現產官合作與跨業結盟的軟硬實力，希望再次成為世界的領頭羊，展現臺灣宣示保護海洋的決心。 環保署今年辦理「海洋廢棄物高質化循環利用示範推廣計畫」，挑戰完全使用台灣各地淨灘所得海廢寶特瓶為原料，以最高品質要求的再生利用技術所生產的衣料為試驗目標。 此計畫由環保署領軍，邀請各地環保單位與回收、處理產業與紡織產業八家民間業者，與國際級驗證業者聯手合作。不但以挑戰台灣的回收與紡織技術，更將提出世界首創的驗證機制。 環保署回收基管會執行秘書顏旭明表示，「潯寶衣」的命名除了循環利用的含意，更強調材料來自海洋、海邊，潯寶衣除必要添加的彈性纖維外，96%的材料全來自海廢寶特瓶，已是目前國際間的最高技術。 環保署發起這項試驗，一是帶領回收與紡織業者拿出實力挑戰更高技術，再者要以基管會的公信力，建立世界首創的海洋循環認證，讓世界紡織產業可以向台灣業者購買經認證的海洋循環材料，或是效法台灣標準，共同為守護海洋盡力。這是讓「世界看到台灣，台灣可以幫助世界。」顏旭明表示，潯寶衣認證機制已於11月進入審議，預計明年中能正式上路。 包括亞東綠材、祖揚公司、東和紡織、世堡公司等一起參與研發，也有國際級驗證業者德國萊因一起合作。潯寶衣研發團隊自淨灘現場開始，接續其後之貯存、分選破碎、紡紗及織布等，各階段進出紀錄及標準作業流程，均合乎驗證要求，以確認來源確屬於海洋環境，成為世界第一個由國家出面帶領團隊，產製完全使用海洋廢寶特瓶循環利用之物品。 https://money.udn.com/money/story/5612/5128453