Upcycled Medical Ltd describe the process of transforming plastic waste into sustainable clothing
The plastic pollution filling our oceans poses an urgent and critical problem – not only does it harm wildlife and the environment, but it also poses a direct threat to humans. Ignoring plastic pollution risks macroplastic spreading through every level of the food chain, which would have drastic consequences.
At Upcycled Medical, we realise things need to change and are committed to protecting the environment. Millions of tonnes of plastic enter the oceans annually – our mission is to take that waste and upcycle it into eco-friendly fibres, which we use to make sustainable clothing and fabric.
Our work is defined by what we’ve called the three Ps:
- Protect Our Planet – by collecting plastic waste from seas, oceans, and lakes, we’re helping to clean up our environment and save marine wildlife and plants.
- Protect Our People – we take the plastic waste and upcycle it into clothing, which uses up fewer natural resources and creates less waste at the same time.
- Purposefully Produce Ethical Clothing – we offer a sustainable alternative to other clothing brands and have the lowest verifiable carbon footprint in the world.
Ending plastic pollution on our sustainable clothing process We’re committed to ending plastic pollution and addressing the damage that’s already been caused by waste plastic. The first step in our process is collecting plastic waste and harvesting it from the oceans; we also collect it from our partners, including Bupa.
All of this plastic waste is then sorted and turned into pellets and flakes. These are then sent to a factory in Spain, where they’re upcycled into polyester yarn.
Instead of ending up in landfills or harming wildlife, this plastic is weaved into textiles which we turn into eco-friendly products. NHS workers are already wearing our clothing in Milton Keynes. Each piece of medical clothing comprises around seven or nine plastic bottles, ensuring we breathe new life into what would otherwise be rubbish.
Our partners also collect plastic waste
We don’t work alone. We’ve teamed up with ocean clean-up programmes and plastic waste collectors to collect plastic waste. We partnered with the SeaQual Initiative and their network of similarly minded organisations – thanks to an agreement that’s been endorsed by the Spanish government, they’ve incentivised fishermen to fight back against marine pollution and trawl the oceans at the end of their working day, bringing back as much marine litter as they can.
As well as plastic, they collect plastic, metal, rubber, glass, and wood – for every kilogramme of yarn that we’ve produced so far, we estimate that we’ve collected between 600 grammes and 1 kilogramme of marine litter.
The collected plastic is upcycled into Seaqual Yarn using innovative recycling techniques. Other companies that make medical scrubs use plastic made in Saudi Arabia, which is then shipped to China to create the scrubs that are shipped here to the UK. This wastes fossil fuels, water, and energy – unlike those companies, we make our products here in the UK from yarn produced in Spain.
Our products: Turn plastic waste into sustainable clothing While many materials can be upcycled, from wood to textiles, we focus solely on plastic because of how harmful it can be to the environment and how long it takes to protect them.
Since we make our products this way, they’re longer-lasting – and once they reach the end of their working life, they can be recycled all over again and upcycled into new medical clothing. Our mission is to turn plastic waste – whether bottles, yarn, or old clothing into sustainable clothing. The products we sell at Upcycled Medical are ethically sourced and environmentally friendly and are made from 65% polyester and 35% cotton fabric.
Our clothing products include scrubs, coats, tabards, fleece jackets, and gowns. We also make face masks, bedsheets, and curtains; many medical staff and healthcare professionals currently use our products.
Tackling plastic waste – our future
By taking plastic waste and upcycling it, we aim to eliminate the need to create anything from new plastic and end plastic pollution. We hope to create more than just clothes – a vast range of products, from shopping bags to designer clothing – could be made from PET plastic pellets.
By working with organisations like the Seaqual Initiative and Bupa, we’re transforming waste management and creating a safer, greener future. Working together, we can revolutionise the manufacturing industry and preserve our oceans for future generations.
This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International.
