<Anchor> It is a
friendly economy. Today (26th) I will be with reporter Kim Hye-min. Reporter Kim, the clothes you're wearing today look a little different from what you usually do, but they suit you very well.
<Reporter> These are
some special clothes. Today I'd like to introduce you to this dress, which is made of eco-friendly materials.
Energy consumption, and reduction of carbon dioxide, tags like this were also attached.
They have the same material and feel as regular clothes, so you wouldn't know unless you tell them, but fleece jumpers called 'poggle' are also in vogue these days.
Clothing brands are competing with each other and advertising that it is made of 'recycled plastic' these days. In addition, the fleece jumper is made of 'polyester', the most used fiber in the world.
This polyester, 'plastic', is used as a raw material, so 'recycled polyester' is recycled plastic by turning it into fiber.
The most common method is to recycle waste plastic bottles. After shredding the collected PET bottles, they make them into recycled chips and pull out the threads.
The use of eco-friendly fibers is gradually increasing. Last year, the use of recycled polyester increased by 6.3% compared to the previous year.
<Anchor>
i See. The clothes that reporter Kim is wearing now are made of eco-friendly materials. However, clothes made of this eco-friendly material are recycled after being discarded anyway. Then it feels a little awkward, I think there are some people who have something like this.
<Reporter>
Yes. You may be worried about whether it is contaminated or whether there is a problem with the material.
So, this time, the Korea Consumer Agency selected 5 recycled polyester jackets on the market and tried them out.
First, formaldehyde and pH tests were performed to see how safe it was. All products met the recommended standards, were not susceptible to sunlight or friction, and their shape did not change below the standard even after washing in the washing machine.
The degree of non-breaking also met the relevant criteria, but the degree of non-tearing was insufficient in 1 out of 5 criteria.
Clothes made from waste plastic bottles are generally safe to wear, as you can see.
However, using recycled materials as a raw material did not mean that the price was cheap.
From a consumer's point of view, it's a question of why the price of recycled raw materials has remained the same or is becoming more expensive.
<Anchor> That's
right. And it is a common thought that it would be cheaper to recycle anyway, but when you think about it, it is not. Why is that?
<Reporter>
For these reasons, these companies have been criticized for using eco-friendliness in their marketing.
Still, there were some circumstances of its own.
The price of recycled plastic is increasing day by day, so it is not easy to lower the price.
According to statistics posted on the 'Resource Circulation Information System' by the Ministry of Environment, the price of recyclable compressed plastic has jumped 1.5 times compared to the beginning of this year.
The rise in recycled plastic prices is actually a global trend, as the number of companies using recycled products is rapidly increasing through the upcycling boom, while the supply of recycled plastics is insufficient.
In particular, Korea produces a lot of plastic waste, but the recycling rate is lower than in other countries.
In many cases, Koreans wash plastic and do not put it out, and even if only clean plastic is collected separately, it is mixed with contaminated materials in the process of transporting it.
<Anchor>
Then, if we wear recycled fibers and recycled clothes like this, I think the environment will be a little better, we are taking the lead in environmental protection. You say there is no such big effect?
<Reporter>
Recycling plastic itself is actually a lot more eco-friendly than using new plastic.
However, clothes made of waste plastic are also polyester, and these synthetic fibers have a common problem of releasing microplastic fibers.
It has been known to produce more emissions when worn as well as when washing.
Each year one person washes clothes and releases 300 million microplastics into the water and more than 900 million microplastics into the air just by putting on clothes.
However, with synthetic fibers accounting for a significant proportion of clothing, it is impossible not to wear them at all.
If you look for a realistic way to emit less, it turns out that buying clothes made from tightly woven materials is less likely to emit microplastics.
Also, clothes that can be washed as little as possible are one of the ways to reduce emissions.
Ultimately, we need to reduce the use of plastic itself.
Some domestic companies are also researching ways to use biodegradable, eco-friendly materials made from corn.