Will Americans Ever Get Sick of Cheap Junk?
On April 29, 2024 by Ken PuckerA column about consumerism EXPLORE By Amanda Mull Illustration by Matteo Giuseppe Pani. Source: Getty. APRIL 29, 2024, 7 AM ET SHARE & GIFT SAVE In all the years I’ve spent covering American consumerism, I’ve heard one type of question from readers far more than any other: This can’t go on forever, right? Maybe they’d […]
Why H&M is turning away from polyester recycled from bottles
On April 14, 2024 by Ken PuckerH&M’s new deal to buy $600 million of “circular” polyester over seven years from Syre, a Swedish startup it co-founded, underlines one of fashion’s dirty secrets: Making new polyester from recycled bottles sounds environmentally friendly but, in reality, polyester is a huge source of pollution. And recycling bottles to make more polyester might be worse […]
Can Syre Succeed Where Renewcell Failed?
On April 8, 2024 by Ken PuckerKen Pucker, professor of the practice at The Fletcher School at Tufts University, worries about many things. One of them is whether the fashion industry is going about circularity the wrong way. The collapse of Renewcell, which until recently transmuted clothing castoffs into sheets of dried pulp that could be dissolved to create viscose, rayon […]