PM Modi wears a sustainable over coat spun from recycled pet bottles
*By T.S. Venkatesan
The unique sky blue ‘bandh gala’ overcoat , our Prime Minister Narendra Modi wearing while reply to the Motion of Thanks on President’s address in the Lok Sabha, is made in Karur. This jacket is not the usual one as it has been made from recycled PET bottles.
PM Modi, a strong votary of innovation and protecting the environment and fighting against climate change. The over coat was presented to him at the India Energy week held at Bangalore on 6th of this month, by Indian Oil Corporation. Under the ‘Unbottled’ initiative of Indian Oil, PM Modi launched the uniforms made from recycled plastic at the ongoing India Energy Week 2023 in Bengaluru. More than 10 crore PET bottles will be recycled to make sustainable garments for IOC employees, LPG cylinder deliverymen and armed forces.
The coat was produced in Karur based Sri Renga polymers for IOC and more specifically to make one for PM Modi. Shree Renga Polymers, founded by K. Sankar back in 2008, is a frontrunner in pet bottle recycling and sustainable textiles in India. Talking to your reporter, he said that his constant quest for innovation and tech-savvy solutions in recycling polymer products have evolved the company into a pre-eminent force in the realm.
He said “The hallmark of our technology is in manufacturing dope dyed colours and speciality recycled polyester fibres. We have developed more than 50 colours in a short span of time and have capabilities to produce Flame retardant, Anti microbial, Tri-lobal and hollow fibres”.
PM Modi said “The target of recycling 100 million such bottles every year will go a long way in protecting the environment” .
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is taking this initiative further through ‘Unbottled’ – a brand for sustainable garments launched for merchandise made from recycled polyester. The IOC said “ the process of making the fabric from discarded bottles involves washing, drying, and crushing of collected PET bottles into small chips. The chips are then heated and passed through a spinneret to form polyester staple fibre which is given a fluffy, woolly texture in a crimping machine. This polyester staple fibre is then spun to produce yarn which is further knitted or woven into polyester fabric. It takes about six recycled bottles to make a T-shirt, six bottles to make a bodysuit, nine bottles to make a sleep suit and nine to make a dress”.
It is learnt that the IOC would soon float tenders to make the coats from waste recycled pet bottles. The Karur based firm, according to its promoter Sankar, is hopeful bagging the order as it is the only company involved in that process.
Like jute fibre, in Tamil Nadu is promoting nature based fibres. Anagaputhur near Chennai weaved a sarees,shirt material and fabric from waste banana fibre. A farmer Murugesan, a school dropout, from Madurai Melakkal village in Vadipatti taluk , has developed four types of machinery to make rope out of plantain waste, three of which are patented. Prime Minister in his man k bath episode in 2021 lauded the agro-based entrepreneur and said, “Murugesan’s innovation would not just solve the waste disposal problem but also open up new avenues of income for farmers”.
Sharing a photo of the PM, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi tweeted, “Modi ji doesn’t just walk the talk, and he also leads from the front. A superb way to promote climate consciousness.”
Our PM Modi, by wearing a jacket made from recycled plastic, has made the spotlight and taken the step in the right direction.
