Isn’t it great news that it takes five two-liter bottles to make one extra large T-shirt? This not only an environment friendly concept but also a profitable project too. An environmentally friendly use for recycled materials has proven to be profitable over the last 10 years for Graham and Steve Jarrett.
They operate a corporation in Palm Coast, Florida called Clothes Made From Scrap, Inc. They make clothing, hats, and totes made from recycled plastic bottles and re-claimed cotton. Reclaimed cotton is scrap gathered from the manufacturing floor and re-polymerized as recycled cotton fiber.The pioneer of this project is Graham Jarrett, who was exposed to some of the initial T-shirts manufactured by Hoecht, Inc., a German chemical company. Even, He decided to leave his career in finance as a chartered accountant.
“I started his new business and showed no profit his first year. A modest income was achieved every year thereafter. Clothes Made From Scrap, Inc. buys their recycled polyfiber from Wellman, Inc., a mill located in North Carolina. Wellman introduced the first polyester textile fiber made from post-consumer PET packaging in 1993", said Mr. Jarrett.
The organization gathers more than 2.5 billion PET bottles and containers in a year. The material purchased from Wellman by Clothes Made From Scrap, Inc. is marketed under the name of Fortrel® EcoSpun®. This fiber is used to make products such as blankets, T-shirts, soft luggage and socks.
Mr. Jarrett's mantra is "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and complete the circle by purchasing recycled products."
