Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2022 - 30

sustainability
Egg chair made
from A&H Blue
recycled material.
continued from page 29
need to change people's mindset.
Without that mindset
change, without companies
and governments being made
to understand that sustainable
practices must become a priority,
progress will be hard to
achieve, " she explained.
Arch & Hook Blue:
100% recycled
While the FSC-certified wooden
hanger fulfilled the requirements
- it was well designed,
with good aesthetics and produced
from a sustainable material
- Arch & Hook also sought
to tackle the problem of single-use
plastic clothing hangers
in the retail world and the
waste these produce. In 2016,
the company started experimenting
with ocean-bound and
post-consumer plastics, exploring
a way to turn these into new
products.
The waste plastics it is using
originate from China, a country
that is eager to collaborate with
Arch & Hook on efforts to utilise
the plastic waste collected in
30
May/June 2022
that country from the four most
polluted rivers on the planet.
" It's a question of economics, "
said Pizzato. When China
stopped accepting waste plastic
from countries overseas, it
started using the infrastructure
that it had put in place for processing
that waste to recycle
its own post-industrial and
post-consumer waste plastic
streams.
" Arch & Hook were able to
secure and continue to collaborate
with sorting and recycling
partners in China, " she said.
" And partners are what they
truly are: Arch & Hook and all
its entities are GRS-certified, as
are our Chinese partners, something
that requires diligence
and discipline, transparency
and honesty. " GRS refers to
the Global Recycled Standard,
a voluntary product standard
for tracking and verifying the
content of recycled materials
in a final product. The standard
supports companies looking
to verify the recycled content
of their products as well as responsible
social, environmental
and chemical practices in the
production of these products.
The waste from these plastic
streams is sorted and separated,
shredded, transported, processed
and recycled into Arch &
Hook Blue thermoplastic material,
which is used to make the company's
programme of Blue products.
" The Arch & Hook Blue
Programme features different
types of plastics, including recycled
PE, PP, PC ABS, PET -
you name it, " said Pizzato. " So,
we can collaborate in different
streams when it comes to manufacturing
products and processes. "
Products made from
these thermoplastics can be
collected and recycled into new
Arch & Hook Blue products,
with no need for any new, virgin
materials.
The first products were the
company's Arch & Hook Blue
hangers, made from 100% recycled
PP sourced from oceanbound
river plastics in China.
The hangers were launched
during London Fashion Week in
September 2019.
The hangers are injection
moulded in China as well, said
Pizzato, as it is where the company's
supply chain is for waste
plastic. " Making products out of
recycled content, we do need
to have a really strong link with
our recycling plants to ensure
a consistent supply. Continued
close collaboration and vertical
integration is key for us in
maintaining partnerships and
product development for global
positive impact. "
Endless possibilities
In fashion retail, however, hangers
are just one contributor
to the huge amount of plastic
waste generated every year.
" Shoe shelves, mannequin platforms
and other 3D elements
in the store environment, that
are used once and then thrown
away, or the post-industrial
waste from textile manufacturing
- these things got us thinking
about how we could give
second, third or even fourth
lives to these materials that otherwise
would end up in landfill. "
Arch & Hook has experimented
with various ways of reusing
materials, combining them into
new materials by looking for opportunities
to utilise the clients'
own post-industrial waste and
mixing this into its 100% recy

Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2022

Contents
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2022 - Cover1
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2022 - Cover2
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2022 - Contents
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2022 - 4
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2022 - 5
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2022 - 6
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2022 - 7
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2022 - 8
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2022 - 9
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2022 - 10
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2022 - 11
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Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2022 - 38
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2022 - Cover3
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2022 - Cover4
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