Recycle Yarn
- What is Recycled Yarn?
- More and more customers have been started turning their attention to yarns that have been made in part with recycled
fibers, but is recycled yarn really better for the planet?
- Recycled yarn is any yarn that contains fibers that were once used for something else. Probably the first such yarn
available was the recycled silk yarn, made from the end bits left over from sari production.
- These days you're beginning to see more yarns made with recycled cotton or plastic content.
- Recycled cotton yarn typically comes from the remnants left over after manufacturing T-shirts, while plastic fiber is
extruded from recycled plastic bottles. You'll sometimes see this referred to as soda bottle yarn.
- Is Recycled Yarn Better?
- These sorts of yarns vary in the amount of recycled content that is used to make them, so while diverting waste from
landfills is always a good idea, these might not be the most eco-friendly fibers out there.
- As always when it comes to choosing greener yarns, there are tradeoffs. It could well be that a 100 percent organic
cotton yarn is better for the planet than a yarn made in part with conventionally produced but recycled fiber (cotton
in particular is tricky because it is so pesticide intensive), especially if that non-organic yarn is also conventionally dyed.
- Recycling plastic is great, but it's often used in acrylic yarns, which can use a lot of petroleum products in their production.
- That's no reason to turn away from recycled yarns, but it is important to know all the potential fiber choices that are out
there and, if eco knitting is something you're interested in, weighing your own priorities against what's known about the
production practices that went into the yarn you're considering.
- What is CU Global Recycle Standard?
- The Global Recycle Standard (GRS) was originally developed by Control Union Certifications (CU) in 2008. This standard
is intended for companies that wish to make a content claim on the amount of recycled material in the final product. The
GRS is based on a tracking and tracing principle used for certified products; in addition, issues pertaining to environmental
and social criteria are also incorporated in line with requests from various leading members in the industry. A further choice
was made in the development of this standard to adopt a transaction certificate system. This provides a superior monitoring
and controlling mechanism within both supply and value chains to further ensure the integrity of certified final products.
Recycling plastic is great, but it's often used in acrylic yarns, which can use a lot of petroleum products in their production.
- The standard may apply to companies that trade and/or produce the end product or half (finished) product containing recycle
material to enter the GRS program. The range of products to be certified is inspired by, but not limited to textile products. In
case the party is outsourcing the production of the end product partially or completely, the units involved then have to comply
with GRS as well.
- At present CU is the only certification body that offers a fully integrated certification process of the GRS, and other certification
bodies may be added in the future.