N E W S

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

            RCH Industries introduces the first fabric for vertical blinds, woven from ‘Genuine’ Recycled Polyester, using Post-consumer Bottles. 

Company Achieves Greater Environmental Benefits

Toronto, ON—October 1, 2008—Responding to growing consumer and industry demand for environmentally friendly textiles, RCH Industries has introduced a new line of woven fabrics containing Eco-Fil™, the world’s only filament polyester yarn made from 100% post-consumer plastic beverage containers.

Eco-Fil’s superior performance characteristics make it exceptionally suitable for vertical blinds.

Eco-Fil has been termed “greener than green” because the environmental benefits of its 100% post-consumer content are far greater than those of merely “recycled”. Eco-Fil is made exclusively from PET bottles that have actually been filled with beverages, depleted by the consumer, and reclaimed from the waste stream.

It’s critical to realize the difference between post-consumer waste and other recycled materials. There are many textile companies claiming to use 100% recycled components that actually includes factory scraps, production line rejects and other materials salvaged or diverted from upstream “post-industrial waste”—which is normally reclaimed anyway. These textiles may contain only five- to ten-percent actual post-consumer waste. Proportions of the materials from different source in these yarns often vary, resulting in inconsistent quality and performance of the end product.
 

By recapturing the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from emptied bottles, the Eco-Fil process ensures a true “closed-loop” product lifecycle, yielding substantial ecological benefits: It reduces the depletion of natural resources, eases the burden on landfills, requires less energy use, and reduces North America’s reliance on imported petrochemicals. Economic benefits include more stable, predictable sourcing and prices for recycled raw materials, independent of world petroleum markets.

No Sacrifice in Quality
Along with Eco-Fil’s outstanding environmental virtues, the fiber still offers the physical properties for home furnishing products demanding a high-quality polyester yarn for strength, shrinkage resistance, dye uptake, colorfastness, durability and manufacturability.

There is obviously growing public concern about such current issues as global climate change, dependence on nonrenewable oil resources and environmental damage from hazardous materials and other pollutants, because of these concerns, consumers are not only more accepting of products based on recycled materials, they are actively seeking them out.

It’s Easier Being Green
It was a different story in 1993, when the first generation of recycled polyester fleece was introduced , meeting with some consumer resistance due to its stiffer feel and higher price. Today, Eco-Fil the next-generation formulation and production of the recycled filament yarns is approaching virgin polyester in, functionality, color and durability.

_{Eco-fil is trademark of O'Mara Incorporated}