Ecoalf Turns the Mediterranean's Plastic Waste Into Clothing

Almost 5,000 fishermen help the Spanish brand recover marine litter, yet its own team says recycling alone cannot keep up with overproduction.

“Plastic alone now accounts for around 80% of everything we bring up.” – Tony Beltrán, fisherman 

(Source: Euronews) 

Tony Beltrán fishes off the coast of Gandía, south of Valencia, and plastic is now the main thing his nets pull up. He is one of almost 5,000 fishermen working with Spanish brand Ecoalf and its not-for-profit foundation to give that waste a second life, as Euronews reports. Worldwide, more than 12 million tonnes of plastic enter the oceans every year.

Cleaning the Sea One Port at a Time

The Upcycling the Oceans project began in Spain in 2015. Since then, it has recovered more than 2,000 tonnes of marine waste, roughly 100 truckloads. It now works with around 80 ports and has spread to France, Italy, Greece, Egypt and Thailand. Foundation director Andrea Ruzo says the long-term goal is to bring 10,000 fishermen together across the Mediterranean.

How a Plastic Bottle Becomes Yarn

Glass and metal from the nets go through normal recycling. Plastic bottles make up about 5% of the waste, and Ecoalf turns them into a fibre it calls Ocean Yarn. Ángela Pérez, the company's textile innovation and sustainability expert, explains the process in a few steps.

1. Fishermen bring the waste ashore, and the bottles are separated from everything else.
2. The bottles are shredded into small flakes.
3. The flakes are turned into pellets.
4. The pellets are spun into yarn, which becomes fabric at Ecoalf's Madrid headquarters.

Bottles are only part of the picture. Since its founding in 2009, Ecoalf has also made fibres from old fishing nets, tyres and recycled cotton and wool.

Clothes Made to Come Apart

Creative director Julie Sohn says circular thinking shapes every choice from the very first step. Each garment is planned so it can be taken apart completely, with no extra processing, and fed back into the circular economy. Seventeen years on, the company reports yearly revenue of around €65 million, with 300 staff and dozens of stores worldwide.

Where Recycling Reaches Its Limit

Ecoalf's own team is honest about the scale of the task. Chief marketing officer Carolina Álvarez-Ossorio points to mass overconsumption and overproduction as the industry's central challenge. She believes brands must move beyond one-off sustainable capsules and build eco-design into every product from day one.

The foundation also notes that the equivalent of a truckload of plastic still reaches the oceans every minute. Recycling can clear up old waste, but it cannot keep pace while the industry keeps producing more.

Less Waste Starts Before the First Stitch

At TuDuGu, we admire the hard work of pulling plastic from the sea and turning it into something useful. Still, recycling cleans up yesterday's waste, while every new purchase shapes tomorrow's. The surest way to cut waste is to produce less of it, and that starts with buying fewer, better pieces made from natural fibres by skilled hands.