Executive Director (Economic Division) of Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre in India Guann-Jyh Lee recently visited the two-day Taiwan Textile Fair organised by Taiwan Textile Federation, in association with the Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA), and the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI). While speaking to the media during the event, he said that Taiwan has succeeded in the production of recycled PET bottle textiles.

Bottles collected from different sources are first crushed and then converted into staple fibres for spinning, or into filament yarns for weaving, and these yarns result in a ready-to-wear product. According to the Environmental Protection Administration, 90,000 tonnes of PET bottles are reclaimed in Taiwan every year, which are equivalent to 4.5 billion drinking water bottles. The production of recycled PET bottle textiles in Taiwan is easily achieved through reclamation scheme. Consumers are encouraged to recollect used bottles with over 67,000 religious and environmental volunteers contributing to the cause of reclaiming resources from waste.

According to Lee, because of a complete and comprehensive production system, Taiwan has achieved the status as the kingdom of polyester textiles. The production and application of recycled PET bottle polyester fibers are optimised with the upstream spinning technologies for functionality, micronisation and compound effects, and the downstream finishing technologies of weaving, dyeing, coating and lamination.

Taiwan's position as the most reliable source for functional and ecological textiles is supported by the fact that various international sporting event such as 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, had many teams wearing jerseys made from recycled PET bottle textiles developed by Taiwanese textile companies.

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