:: polyester

Key environmental impacts of producing polyester include:

• The consumption of non-renewable resources (petrochemicals) in fibre production

• Relatively large energy consumption in production, which has far-reaching environmental implications, the most serious of which includes global warming

• Emissions to air and water that have a medium to high potential of causing environmental damage if discharged untreated including: heavy metal cobalt; manganese salts; sodium bromide and titanium dioxide

• The cost of disposal – synthetic fabrics like polyester are extremely slow to biodegrade and add to the environmental impact of landfill sites in the very long term.

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