Reduce / Reuse / Recycle

April 27, 2006

 

Itochu Corp. to Launch Recyclable 'MOTTAINAI' Brand Neckties

Keywords: Eco-business / Social Venture Manufacturing industry Non-manufacturing industry Reduce / Reuse / Recycle 

Itochu Corp., a major Japanese trading company, started selling neckties in April 2006 as the first product of its MOTTAINAI brand, featuring environmentally friendly products jointly developed by Tamaki Corp. and Seiwa Neckwear Co.

Itochu announced in July 2005 that it would create the MOTTAINAI brand, which it claims is the world's first clothing brand dedicated to the creation of a sustainable society. The Japanese word "mottainai" carries the meaning of "waste not, want not," and was adopted by Wangari Maathai, who is Kenya's deputy minister of the environment and in 2004 became the first environmental activist to be chosen as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate for her tree-planting and conservation activities. Through this brand the company is attempting to show its support for the spirit of the MOTTAINAI campaign she is running in her country.

Most of the more than 40 million neckties sold in Japan annually are made of silk. In recent years, however, recyclable polyester fabric is attracting attention as a material that fits in with the principles of the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, and recycle). Since neckties have no buttons or other accessories, when made of polyester they can be easily melted and reproduced as polyester fibers, in what is known as fiber-to-fiber recycling.

Used neckties collected at stores or sent back in postage-paid envelopes will be reproduced into polyester raw material through the Eco Circle chemical recycling process developed by Teijin Fibers Ltd. The whole process was designed to establish a material flow that enables easy collection of recyclable used materials. The company hopes that its efforts with the MOTTAINAI brand and polyester neckties will be well-received by consumers.



Posted: 2006/04/27 03:05:40 PM
Japanese version

 

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