There are almost 5,000 fishermen and one not-for-profit foundation behind Spanish sustainable fashion brand Ecoalf. Every day, the fishermen recover waste caught in their nets, while the Ecoalf Foundation has developed a system to give that waste a second life, turning it into raw material, ultimately, fabric.
“Plastic alone now accounts for around 80% of everything we bring up. This is our daily reality,” says fisherman Tony Beltrán, while showing the waste that got caught in his nets off the coast of Gandía, south of Valencia. **“**Even before recycling became popular, we were already collecting it, the only difference was that we didn’t separate it.”
Since 2015, the Upcycling the Oceans project, launched alongside the creation of the Ecoalf Foundation, has recovered more than 2,000 tonnes of marine waste, the equivalent of around 100 truckloads of rubbish. Today, the initiative involves around 80 ports and has expanded to France, Italy, Greece, Egypt and Thailand. Yet, it’s still a drop in the ocean: the Foundation points out that every minute, the equivalent of a truckload of plastic ends up in the world’s oceans.
“Our goal has always been to bring together 10,000 fishermen across the Mediterranean so that, together, we can help clean up the Mediterranean Sea,” explains Andrea Ruzo, director of the Ecoalf Foundation.
Of all the materials recovered from the sea, most of them, like glass and metals, follow conventional recycling routes. But around 5% of this waste are plastic bottles, which are transformed into what Ecoalf calls Ocean Yarn.
“The first step, once the waste has been collected, is to shred it and turn it into flakes and then pellets, that’s the stage before spinning,” explains Ángela Pérez, Ecoalf’s expert in textile innovation and sustainability.
The beating heart of this supply chain is Ecoalf’s headquarters in Madrid, where ocean yarn and other recycled materials are turned into fabrics.
Since its creation in 2009, the company continues to source raw materials from a range of waste well beyond plastic bottles. Some fibres come from discarded fishing nets, others from tyres or recycled natural textiles, such as cotton and wool. The goal, the company says, is to reduce the environmental impact of both production and the finished garment, while maintaining its look and quality.
Circularity influences the decisions a fashion designer makes throughout the design process says Julie Sohn, Ecoalf’s creative director.
“It changes everything from the very beginning. Everything is designed so that the garment can be completely disassembled, without any additional processing, and re-enter the circular economy,” she says.
Among the pioneers of sustainable fashion, Ecoalf was founded with a clear ambition: to prove that a business can succeed while helping transform one of the world’s most polluting industries. 17 years later, the company has grown into a global brand, with annual revenues of around €65 million, 300 employees and dozens of stores worldwide.
“The problem we’ve been facing in recent years is mass overconsumption and overproduction. Brands need to move beyond sustainable capsules or focusing on a single material. We need to learn to design with eco-design principles from the very beginning,” explains Carolina Álvarez-Ossorio, Ecoalf’s chief marketing officer.
But could sustainable fashion eventually replace fast fashion? There is still a long way to go according to Álvarez-Ossorio, who is also convinced designers have a role to play in finding new ways to work with purpose and ultimately help protect our planet.
Ecoalf is a striking example of the circular economy, but it also raises a bigger question: can recycling the waste we already produce ever compensate for new waste we continue to create?