Turning smoothie bottles into school skirts and blazers
What makes recycled polyester such a Plan A friendly material? It takes, on average, 25 two-litre plastic bottles to make our new children's recycled school blazer and skirt and the production process is more energy efficient than starting from scratch.
The technique uses much less crude oil and energy than the traditional method of producing polyester, due to the fact that the oil has already been moulded into plastic.
From depot to doorstep.
Firstly, the bottles are sent to a sorting centre where they’re separated into three different types of plastic – PVC, HDPE and PET. Next, the sorted bottles are compressed into dense bales, then taken to a reprocessing plant where they’re separated into individual squashed bottles. Each bottle is washed to remove labels and impurities, dried, then ground into small flakes. The flakes are melted and squeezed through tiny holes, through which molten polyester emerges. As it solidifies it’s cut into small pellets which are then stretched to make yarn. After this, the yarn is knitted to produce a roll of fleece fabric, which is dyed and cut into panels that are sewn together to form the tops. Zips, buttons and trims are then fitted, although these are not made from recycled materials.
Following the introduction of our recycled fleece last year, we recently introduced school clothing made from recycled plastic bottles. This way, you can enjoy the same M&S quality that you’d find on all our schoolwear, but you’ll also be doing your bit for the environment. Big ticks all round!
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M&S Café triple certification coffee
When you order a cup of coffee in our café it will be freshly made from scratch. Every M&S Barista is expertly trained to make perfect shots and frothy milk with every cup. You'll also find little extras like our coffee loyalty card
