Ridding the ocean bed of the plastic waste asphyxiating it – such is the mission of Spanish manufacturer Seaqual 4U. The company has invited the entire supply chain, from fisherman to consumers and including spinners, fabric mills and brands, to encourage a clean-up of ocean depths. Its 400 partner fishing boats probe the seas to retrieve all waste, in order to sort it and upcycle the plastic waste into fibre and yarn, and for each kilo of fibre produced, a kilo of waste is removed from the ocean.
Having won over the world of fashion, with partners such as Textil Santanderina (Spain), A. Sampaio E Filhos Texteis (Portugal), Fieratex (Greece) and Gipitex (Italy), the aesthetics and environmental importance of Seaqual™ fibre is now being hailed by the beachwear world. Sofileta (France) and Generos de Punto Fabres (Spain) have reiterated their trust in this fibre, now putting out new swimsuit ranges. Others, such as Estilmar, Oktex del Punto and Lemar, are pleased with their initial experiments and are now launching their first Seaqual™ ranges.
Despite boasting the same properties as fibres manufactured from “virgin” polyester, Seaqual™ not only actively contributes to cleaning the seabed, but also saves up to 40% of water and 50% of energy while cutting CO2 emissions by 60%. Six weaving mills including Estilmar, Géneros De Punto Fabrés, Lemar, Oktex del Punto and Sofileta, will be previewing the eco-friendly fabrics at Mare di Moda, on 7, 8 and 9 November 2017 in Cannes.
