Tokyo-based chemical company Asahi Kasei, a corporate giant with 25,000 employees, has announced an environmentally friendly product of the very special kind: swimsuits [JP]. The lovely ladies you can see on the picture (Ayumi Kura, 20, on the left and eighteen-year-old Shi Weng Lu on the right) are wearing bikinis made of polyethylene tephthalate. Polyethylene tephthalate (PET) is the stuff they use to make plastic bottles.
Asahi Kasei claims the swimsuits they make from PET (marketed under the brand name Sunplay ECO) are very quick to dry and offer a high level of elasticity. I bet they do. The company also says that compared to conventional swimwear, Sunplay products have a better environmental footprint by using less oil and releasing less carbon dioxide in the production process.
Unfortunately, Asahi Kasei hasn’t said yet when the new swimwear will be sold and if it will find its way outside Japan, too.