News

Mar 09, 2023

Survey finds consumers have 'knowledge gap' about recycling

Fabric swatches for upholstery on display. A survey conducted by market research

Fabric swatches for upholstery on display. A survey conducted by market research firm Wakefield Research found that many Americans were unaware that fabrics like polyester, acrylics, nylons are derived from oil and that oil-derived plastic fibers have an impact on the environment.

How much plastic is in your life? Do you know how to reduce how much plastic you use? Could you identify how much plastic gets recycled? Where do polyesters come from, and do polyester fabrics "count" as plastic? These questions and more were included in a nationwide consumer survey commissioned by local plastics recycling startup Protein Evolution.

"For decades, consumers have been sorting plastic bottles and cardboard boxes from their household trash, and yet most people are still unaware of how prevalent plastic is in their daily lives," said Connor Lynn, chief business officer and co-founder of Protein Evolution. "There is a knowledge gap when it comes to the recycling industry."

The scientific survey conducted by market research firm Wakefield Research asked a representative sample of 1,000 Americans what they knew about plastics, plastic textiles and plastic recycling.

The survey found that 93 percent of Americans surveyed overestimated the amount of plastic that gets recycled. In addition, over two-thirds of Americans were unaware that many fabrics like polyester, acrylics, nylons, and others are derived from oil.

The survey results came out right as Connecticut State Attorney General William Tong led 16 other state attorneys general in an open letter to the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration urging the agencies to control plastic microfiber water pollution. Over a million of these microfibers are shed every time a plastic garment is washed.

"Plastic microfibers are a pervasive, toxic pollutant with potential to cause severe harm to human health and our environment," Tong wrote in a news release. "Simple technology exists and is already required overseas to trap these plastics before they enter our waterways and ultimately our bodies."

Over a quarter of Americans believe that none of their clothing contains plastic, the survey found. According to industry analysis group The Fiber Year, in 2019 over two-thirds of all textiles contained synthetic materials. Over half of those were crude oil-based polyesters.

"Ninety-eight percent of people, which might as well be 100 percent, overestimate the amount of discarded textiles that are recycled, and they overestimate by a lot," said Nathan Richter, a senior partner at Wakefield Research. "You have quite a lot of people who overestimate by quite a large margin."

Richter said most Americans believe a quarter of all textiles were recycled. The reality, according to a global study conducted by Greenpeace, is about 6 percent.

Richter said that the disconnect between what people believe and what is actually happening to clothes is likely a problem of perception. People donate or thrift clothes, or downcycle them into rags. Very few people just throw clothes away. Everyone is aware of recycling and probably assume that there are recycling streams for most materials, but that just isn't the case.

"There's a real instinct out there not to waste things, and that probably explains in some part some of the assumptions people have," Richter said. "When you look at the data, it says that people assume these things are being taken care of."

Even if donated with the best of intentions, your clothes might not end up being reused. A report by the Washington Post found that many donated clothes end up in landfills or incinerated because they aren't in good enough condition to be reused. This is exacerbated by fast fashion brands that produce low-quality, low-durability clothes. These clothes are frequently made of polyester and other oil-derived plastic fibers.

Richter said many people were aware of the impact of fast fashion but hadn't made the connection to plastics. Many water bottles, for example, are made of the same chemical as polyester fleece.

"If people are unaware of what's actually in their clothing, I think it's incumbent on the industry and incumbent on us as a society to shed light on that," Richter said. "I think if you told people that crude oil is made into plastic and plastic is used to make polyester and polyester ends up in a huge percentage of your clothing, it's an easy concept to grasp for most folks."

According to the study 76 percent of people want companies to increase the amount of recycled material used in clothing. Protein Evolution is trying to develop a way to recycle polyester textiles without degrading the material.

"I really hope this research does some work to advance the public understanding of plastics in our clothing, and allow people to make responsible choices," Richter said.