Eco-friendly fashion label Outa is using “barbeshas”, or informal rubbish collectors, which are taking part in the Kerkennah Plastic Free programme, backed by the European Union. The plastic waste that they collect will become part of a synthetic plastic fibre used to make blue denim cloth which the label will use to create dresses.
The programme intends to collect the 7,000 tonnes of plastic waste that wind up as beach trash on the Kerkennah Islands, which are located 20 kilometres (12 miles) off the coastal city of Sfax.
The EU-funded project is being managed by Jean-Paul Pelissier of the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM).
According to the initiative’s website, it “works with ocean clean-ups around the world to bring value to the waste that they recover”.
In light of the fact that marine plastic “does not have much value and does not bring in any money,” Omar Kcharem, the CEO of Kerkennah Plast, which compacts and smashes plastic, claimed that collaborating with Seaqual had opened up new options.
One of only four facilities in the world with the technology turns the plastic granules recovered after grinding the waste into “Seaqual Yarn” nylon fibre.
Anis Montacer, founder of the Tunisian fabric and fashion brand Outa, has entered into a partnership with Sitex, a denim specialist that has supplied brands such as Hugo Boss, Zara and Diesel.
