Recycled Polyester Saved This American Factory. Environmentalists Hate It

In nan vessel processing works successful Reidsville, North Carolina, drifts of integrative particles, for illustration snowfall banks, are piled successful each nook of nan machinery that chops nan bottles into flake. When I inquire our circuit guide, a level manager, if he worries astir breathing it in, he says he doesn't. "We do a bully occupation of cleaning it up," he says, adding that nan bags of particulate that are vacuumed up are sold off, and nan wastewater is filtered.

But I’m concerned. A 2023 study of a UK plastics recycling works recovered that moreover aft nan installation of state-of-the-art filters, astir 6 percent of nan integrative being processed was released into nan wastewater arsenic micro and nanoplastic, while nan aerial astir nan installation was afloat of microplastics mini capable to beryllium hazardous to quality health.

Scientists are still puzzling retired what microplastics do to our health, but one study recovered that group pinch IBS tended to person much microplastics, including PET and polyamide (of which nylon is 1 type), successful their gut. While PET seems to beryllium 1 of nan astir benign retired of each nan plastics, astatine slightest two studies person recovered BPA, a hormone-disrupting chemical, successful polyester babe clothing, and a number of brands agreed to a colony pinch California lawmakers successful 2023 complete nan presence of BPA successful polyester diversion shirts.

In addition, h2o inferior managers successful Reidsville have alleged that Unifi and different polyester manufacturers could beryllium perchance beryllium sources of 1,4-dioxane, a probable quality carcinogen, successful nan Cape Fear watershed, which provides drinking h2o for over 1 cardinal people arsenic it flows from cardinal to southeast North Carolina. Technically, that’s not forbidden (especially since Unifi, on pinch different business sources and respective towns, successfully lobbied against a North Carolina norm limiting 1,4-dioxane successful wastewater). Because 1,4-dioxane is simply a byproduct of manufacturing PET resin, nan EPA declared in precocious 2024 that almost immoderate vulnerability to 1,4-dioxane constitutes an unreasonable consequence to nan wellness of polyester workers and surrounding communities. There are (very costly) ways to dainty wastewater for 1,4-dioxane, truthful really ensuing regulations would impact Unifi remains to beryllium seen, particularly since nan EPA doesn’t presently look keen to do immoderate regulating of toxic chemic exposure.

Ingle and Boyd some declined to speak successful item astir these issues. In person, they cited nan proposal of Unifi’s counsel (BPA), said Unifi follows each regulations (1,4-dioxane), aliases pled ignorance (microplastics). Follow-up questions to Boyd went unanswered. Ingle responded to follow-up questions via email by writing, “We support progressive information successful The Microfibre Consortium, successful bid to support world and manufacture investigation into nan root and effect of fibre fragmentation from textiles into nan earthy environment.” And “We are compliant pinch each local, state, and national regulations for each of our sites.”

To advocates, each micro-scandal is impervious that location is nary environmentally friends polyester. “We can't do this sustainably successful a nontoxic way, it's virtually impossible,” Pecci says.

But I near nan Repreve works wondering if we’re letting cleanable beryllium nan force of bully American jobs. Polyester will proceed to beryllium successful demand, and it will either beryllium made present successful a compliant mill utilizing recycled sources, aliases overseas successful a sketchy mill utilizing caller petrochemicals. Pecci says she doesn’t want to “call retired that institution aliases those people, because they mightiness beryllium nan nicest group successful nan world doing nan champion they tin pinch what they have.” She described for maine a utopia successful which nontoxic and earthy clothing is each made present and past composted and recycled here. Sounds gorgeous, and impossible.

In February of this year, Unifi announced it was closing its Madison, North Carolina, polyester processing plant. It would vessel immoderate of its machinery to its Latin American plants, and connection nan Madison labor caller occupation opportunities astatine nan Yadkinsville and Reidsville plants, which stay successful service.

For now, anyway.