You can't turn plastic waste into fabric and jobs. But...
Poor countries are plagued by plastic waste and persistent poverty. Countries like Haiti buckle under 9 million pounds of plastic waste each month - in a single urban city. And as one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, over 60% of its population live in poverty, and unemployment ranging from 40-70%.
So an innovative company called Thread decided to tackle Haiti's triad of problems: unemployment, poverty, and plastic waste. They employ the local community to collect the bottles in order to shred and thread them into woven fabric for sports apparel, shoes, bags, and other goods. Now they continue to source responsible materials from people-first supply chains in Haiti, Honduras, and Taiwan.
So, you can.
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The Company That Turns Plastic Bottles Into Fabric—and Jobs
John Tierney, The Atlantic, 2014-11-07
Thread is a social enterprise out of Pittsburgh taking a two-for-one approach to the issues of both poverty and pollution in Haiti. They help take plastic waste out of the environment by turning it into durable fabrics that are sold to clothing and accessory companies looking to source responsible materials, and they create sustainable jobs for Haitians who collect and process the plastic waste.