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Cape Town: The fashion industry has turned recycled waste into clothing to wear plastic forever.
Among the items is a trench coat created by VIVIERS Studio, made up of “disposable sterilisation” medical fabric that was previously used in hospital theatres as sheets or packaging of used apparatus.
“The fashion industry is a very problematic space, but on a positive note we have been working to raise awareness about plastic and how it can be reused,” said Twyg founder Jackie May, a non-profit organisation (NPO) which supports and eco-conscious and forward-thinking lifestyle.
Local ocean-minded non-profit organisations presented their innovations and solutions towards a plastic-free South Africa in a recent webinar on plastic waste management.
About 61% of marine plastic waste is of low value, such as single-use items and sachets, said World Wildlife Fund South Africa’s Lorren de Kock. Only 14% of plastic is collected for recycling globally, she said.
“When it comes to the production phase of plastics, that is when the majority of the climate impact takes place, and the chemical process around it,” said De Kock.
During the Towards New Solutions webinar organized through the Two Oceans Aquarium, De Kock said plastic has an economic effect in industries such as fishing, shipping and tourism.
“This affects ecosystems and the ecosystem in those sectors that, in turn, have other economic impacts,” he said.
The mess highlighted through De Kock included poor design of short-lived plastics, plastic products, the use of fossil fuels as raw materials, and insufficient waste management.
The recycling industry has suffered setbacks due to Covid-19.
“This unsustainable gain of maximum consumption and this poisonous consumerism. This is depleting the relief of the resources we have, resulting in increased pollution,” he said.
Short-lived products are shipped to landfills or landfills and a small one is recycled, De Kock added.
“We can’t just say that we will just go plastic free. We have to differentiate what are the problematic plastics. What plastics do we need, such as in the medical sector and food preservation,” she said.
Most biodegradable or compostable plastics degrade under very express environmental conditions, De Kock concluded.
Twyg organized a Refashion task for five South African designers who created clothing and accessories by valuing plastic waste.
The design elements were shared with five prominent people. For last month’s plastic-free project, the designers decided to create garments from plastic waste.
Those individuals rewore and styled garments as they wished for social media.
“I’m starting to paint on products about how to take care of textile waste and right now they’re considered non-recyclable and 60% of textile waste is polyester that’s plastic,” May said.
We want to get away from the concept that plastic is just a single-use disposable material. The good look of plastic, sharing and re-carrying, May added.
NPO The Beach Co-op focuses on single-use plastic to ensure the fitness of our oceans.
“Our main goal is to create ocean communities. The ocean provides us with oxygen to breathe, it provides us with protein,” said Beach Co-op founder Aaniyah Omardien.
His vision is to collaboratively and creatively paint with ocean communities and protect, repair and regenerate the integrity of our ocean ecosystems.
“Our current purpose is single-use plastic, that’s where the crusade enters #PlasticFreeMzansi. This is one of the projects we are working on with Twyg and several other partners,” he said.
Replacing the climate is the same as the disruptions we face with our oceans, Omardien added.
The organization’s achievements over the past year included 59 beach cleanups, 6 tons of collected waste, 3,507 more people and 1,663 affected students, among others.
Meanwhile, project Litterboom, a non-profit organization, is addressing river and ocean pollutants. The task is South Africa’s first large-scale river interception programme to prevent marine plastic pollutants from ending up in the ocean.
The canalized dams are located on the Black River in the Hazendal and Raapenberg regions, as well as on the Big and Little Lotus rivers in the Grassy Park area, near where those two rivers flow into Zeekoevlei.
These devices are placed preventing plastic waste from entering water sources.
“It has been a case of trying to find a more efficient way to remove plastic pollution from the waterways,” said chief of The Litterboom Project, Cameron Service.
The task points to the plastic pollutants of beaches, rivers and communities.
The trash varies according to the season, but reaches levels of 150 to 3 hundred kg according to the day – 3 to six tons according to the month in Cape Town. Compensation is about 65% of landfills to recycling services or innovation projects.
Argus Weekend
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