Recycled polyester saved this American factory. Environmentalists hate it

At a bottle processing plant in Leedsville, North Carolina, drifts of plastic particles, like snow banks, are stacked in every corner of the machine that carves bottles into flakes. Ask the tour guide, the floor manager, and he says if he’s worried about breathing it, he won’t. “We do a good job cleaning it,” he said, adding that vacuumed dust bags will be sold and wastewater will be filtered out.

but I I’m worried. Research in 2023 Of the UK plastic recycling plants, even after the installation of state-of-the-art filters, approximately 6% of the processed plastics are released into the wastewater as trace and nanoplastics, and the air around the facility is found to be full of microplastics that are small enough to risk human health.

Scientists are still confused as to what microplastics do for our health, but One study We found that people with IBS tend to have more microplastics in their intestines, including PET and polyamides (one type of nylon). Pets seem to be one of the most benign of all plastics, but at least two the study BPA, a hormone-destructive chemical found in polyester baby clothes, discovered many brands that agreed to a settlement with California lawmakers in 2023. The presence of BPA in polyester athletic shirts.

Additionally, Reidsville’s Water Utility Manager It is claiming Unifi and other polyester manufacturers may be the source of 1,4-dioxane, a carcinogenic 1,4-dioxane in the Cape Fear basin. Over 1 million It flows from central North Carolina to southeast. Technically, it is not illegal (particularly since Unifi, along with other industrial sources and some towns). Successfully Lobbying against North Carolina regulations restricting 1,4-dioxane in wastewater. The EPA declared that 1,4-dioxane is a by-product of the production of pet resins Late 2024 Almost all exposure to 1,4-dioxane constitutes an irrational risk to the health of polyester workers and surrounding communities. There is a (very expensive) method of treating wastewater for 1,4-dioxane, so it is still unclear how subsequent regulations will affect UNIFI, especially since the EPA. It seems he’s not enthusiastic at the moment Controls toxic chemical exposure.

Both Ingle and Boyd refused to talk more about these issues. Directly they cited the advice of Unifi’s lawyers (BPAs) and stated that Unifi follows all regulations (1,4-dioxane), or PLED ignorance (microplastics). Follow-up questions to Boyd were not answered. Ingle responded to follow-up questions via email to “keep active participation in the Microfiber Consortium and to support active participation in the impact of fiber fragmentation on the natural environment. “We are compliant with all sites, all sites and federal government regulations.”

For supporters, each microscandal is evidence of the lack of environmentally friendly polyester. “We can’t do this sustainably in a non-toxic way. It’s literally impossible,” says Pecci.

But I left Repreve Plant wondering if we were making perfection an enemy of American work. Polyester will continue to be in demand, and will be carried out overseas in compliant factories using recycled sauces or in sketchy factories using fresh petrochemicals. Pecci says, “I don’t want to call that company or those people because they may be the most amazing people in the world who do their best with what they have.” She described for me the utopia, where non-toxic and natural clothing is all made here and is composted and recycled here. Sounds gorgeous and impossible.

This February, Unifi announcement It had closed its polyester processing plant in Madison, North Carolina. It will ship some of the machines to Latin American plants, providing Madison employees with new employment opportunities in Yadkinsville and Leedsville plants.

Anyway, for now.