Seoul of Tokyo Travel Bag

The felt material used to produce our bags is made from waste plastic bottles. Each m² of felt prevents approximately 15 plastic bottles from going to landfills.

By using material created from waste plastic bottles, we can:

• • Create a more circular economy rather than letting the plastic bottles fill up our landfills and potentially our water sources;
  • Emit less carbon emissions, as felt made from waste bottles is less energy intense than felt made from virgin plastic.
  • Support the local economy, from the informal waste pickers who collect the waste bottles to the facility that creates the felt material to the artisans who craft our bags. 

The Process of creating felt from waste involves:

• • Informal waste pickers as well as formal recycling businesses across South Africa collecting spent PET bottles;
  • A local facility where the PET bottles are washed and shredded into plastic chips;
  • The chips produced from the waste bottles being used either in food grade application to make new bottles (complete circular economy) or being sent to another facility for downcycling into felt fibre.