One of the biggest problem with textile production today is the coloring process.
This process is a very water and chemical intense process that generates large amount of waste water.

For a recycled polyester textile the traditional production process looks like this:

1. Plastic gets recycled and cut into small flakes.
2. The plastic flakes are turned into small plastic pellets.
3. The pellets are melted and extruded into a yarn.
4. The yarn is then used to weave for example a fabric.
5. The fabric then goes through a coloring process that creates up to 22 liters of waste water for every yard of fabric made.

One of the most interesting solutions to this problem is called Solution Dye.

This is very much a similar process but with one big exception, the need of water is removed from the process.
Instead the colors are added already before the pellets are turned into a yarn.

1. Plastic gets recycled and cut into small flakes.
2. The plastic flakes are turing into plastic pellets.
3. Pre-colored pellets are added into the mix.
4. The pellets are melted and extruded into a yarn.
5. This yarn is then used to weave a finished and colourful fabric.

You have to start somewhere and this is where our Solution Dye journey begins. We have found an opportunity to implement this technology on an extremely usable product, a belt. The use of belts has been documented back to the Bronze Age and be made from many different material and formed in many different shapes during the centuries since.

We have now set a new standard making belts. Pil is made form 100% recycled polyester with the solution-dye colouring process and as far as we know, this makes Pil, the most responsible webbing belt in the world.