What Is Recycled Polyester (rPET)?
Most recycled polyester—better known as rPET—comes from plastic bottles. Here’s how it works: bottles are sorted, washed, broken down into tiny “flakes,” melted, and spun into a fiber. That fiber can then be woven into textiles used in everything from sneakers to leggings to bras.
On the surface, rPET seems like the perfect sustainability solution. It reduces reliance on virgin polyester (which is petroleum-based), offers the same sweat-wicking and quick-dry properties, and is easy for brands to market as “eco-friendly.”
But when we zoom in, the story isn’t so rosy.
The Issues With Recycled Polyester
1. Greenwashing in Sustainable Fashion
Brands have leaned hard into rPET since the early 1990s, and in the last decade, usage has skyrocketed. Why? Because it looks good on paper. By swapping virgin synthetics for recycled ones, companies can claim they’re lowering their environmental impact. Cue the glossy greenwashing campaigns.
What these campaigns often skip over: the hidden costs of using recycled plastic bottles for clothing.
2. Disrupting a True Recycling Loop
Here’s the catch: those plastic bottles used for rPET were already recyclable—over and over again. When bottles are pulled into the fashion supply chain, they lose that circular value.
Instead of becoming new bottles multiple times, they become leggings or sports bras that can’t be recycled again. Eventually, those textiles break down into landfill waste. So when brands say rPET “saves bottles from landfills,” that’s misleading at best.
3. Textile Recycling Isn’t Ready (Yet)
Yes, textile recycling technology exists, but it’s still in its early stages: costly, energy-intensive, and inaccessible to most consumers. Which means your old rPET leggings are more likely to sit in a landfill than be reborn into a new garment.
4. Microplastics in Our Water—and Our Bodies
Like virgin polyester, recycled polyester sheds microplastics with every wash. These tiny particles flow into waterways, contaminate food systems, and have even been detected in human bloodstreams (The Guardian, 2022).
Washing synthetics = washing plastic straight into the environment.
Is There Ever a Place for rPET?
Recycled synthetics do have a role in certain performance wear categories—like high-intensity activewear, where stretch and sweat management are key. But for everyday clothing like dresses, sweaters, or especially underwear, polyester (recycled or not) is unnecessary.
Let’s be real: no one wants plastic against the most sensitive parts of their body.
The Better Alternative: Organic Cotton Underwear
That’s why at Subset, we stick with 100% GOTS-certified organic cotton. Unlike rPET, organic cotton:
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Is grown without harmful pesticides
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Breathes naturally, keeping you cool and comfortable
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Prevents moisture retention and irritation
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Doesn’t release microplastics into your wash water
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Aligns with a truly circular fashion system
It’s better for your body and better for the planet—without the greenwashing.
The Bottom Line
Recycled polyester isn’t the sustainable hero it’s marketed to be. Turning bottles into clothes may sound innovative, but it disrupts recycling loops, contributes to microplastic pollution, and adds to textile waste in landfills.
If you’re serious about lowering your environmental footprint, skip the synthetics—recycled or not—and choose breathable, eco-friendly fabrics that actually support circular fashion.
At Subset, that means organic cotton underwear that’s softer, smarter, and genuinely sustainable—and designed with the perfect fit, so you never have to compromise comfort for conscience.
