Materials · Bag Encyclopedia
rPET Recycled Fabric
Post-consumer plastic bottles, shredded and re-spun into polyester yarn. rPET is now the default sustainable base fabric for bags — buyer-demanded, retail-visible and (with the right certification chain) audit-proof. Here's how the supply chain works and what you pay for.
Bottles
12–14
Per m² 600D
Cert
GRS / RCS
Textile Exchange
Cost
+15–25%
vs virgin poly
Lead time
+5–10 days
vs stock virgin
The rPET supply chain
The chain starts at the recycling depot and ends at the loom:
- Post-consumer PET bottles collected from kerbside recycling.
- Sorted by colour, cap and label removed, shredded into flake.
- Flake washed, dried, quality-graded.
- Melt-extruded through a spinneret into rPET filament yarn.
- Yarn dyed (dope-dyed preferred — colour added at melt stage, saves water) and woven at the mill.
- Fabric coated, laminated and cut in the bag factory.
Mechanical vs chemical recycling
- Mechanical — bottles physically shredded, melted, re-extruded. Fast, low cost, 60% lower carbon than virgin PET. Fibre quality degrades slightly with each recycle cycle.
- Chemical — PET broken down to its monomer building blocks and re-polymerised. Higher cost, produces virgin-quality yarn, allows infinite recycling. Used on premium retail programmes.
Certification — GRS vs RCS
| Standard | What it verifies | Buyer acceptance |
|---|---|---|
| RCS | Recycled content only, chain of custody | Entry-level, D2C brands |
| GRS | Recycled content + environmental + social + chemical | Retail majors, most EU chains |
| bluesign | Chemistry and manufacturing input criteria | Premium outdoor and performance brands |
The chain of custody must be unbroken — recycling depot, yarn spinner, mill, dyer, laminator and bag factory must all hold valid certification for the finished bag to carry the claim.
Spec pitfalls
- Percentage matters — 'recycled polyester' can mean anywhere from 30% to 100% rPET. Spec 100% rPET at the fabric level to avoid buyer disputes.
- Dyeing water — solution/dope-dyeing at the melt stage uses ~90% less water than piece dyeing. Retail sustainability audits reward this.
- Coating chemistry — a PVC-coated rPET is not fully sustainable; pair with PU or bio-based coatings for a cleaner story.
- Transaction Certificate — every bag shipment against a GRS claim needs a valid TC from the certifier for that specific batch.
Build a GRS-certified bag programme
Share your target retail price and certification level; we'll return an rPET fabric matrix, coating options and Transaction Certificate handling as part of the quote.