DGRADE - Simply bottles

1. Our business directly addresses the challenge of plastic pollution. In addition we are also offering a credible way to conserve the natural resources which are being used for the manufacture of conventional polyester. By recycling plastic, we re-purpose the PET into polyester. 

2. We save the environment, the local wildlife, flora and fauna. Our project can help to meet this demand, by using the millions of bottles produced daily (in the UAE alone over 10 million bottles are made each day) and repurposing the PET into polyester without using additional (and in the case of oil, finite) resources.

3. We can provide jobs and make Latin America and the Caribbean a better place. While there are clothing brands (such as Nike, Adidas etc) who make a lot of products with recycled PET, the difference is that we are the only ones making these garments using local plastic waste.

DGrade is currently active with over 150 schools in the UAE, recycling the plastic which the students collect, we can implement our system in any conuntry in the world. We engage with staff and employees to motivate them to recycle, arranging Desert Clean ups, in house Seminars and Workshops, as well as Green fairs and activations, to demonstrate what we do and make recycling meaningful. The program engaged in excess of 150,000 students who collected 1 million PET bottles in the school year 2018-19, all of which was recycled in our facility. The plan is to double this amount in 2019-20. 

Consumption of bottles, on average 1 tshirt = 6 bottles, 1 Polo shirt = 8 bottles, 1 cap = 3 bottles

DGrade were awarded the license to make EXPO 2020 products ion 2018.

We are a B2B business, proving a service to customers who require a sustainable product in place of their traditional products. This also gives Companies a chance to meet their CSR goals, ‘walk the talk’ in practical terms by doing something tangible to make a difference - and connect with customers and consumers who are looking for companies with demonstrable ‘green’ credentials. 

DGrade operates out of a 3500sqm factory in Dubai South, the machinery (from both China and Germany) can process upto 3T of plastic per hour (1ton = aprox 50,000 bottles) with an expectation to process 800 tons per month by Q3 2020.

Simply Bottles events this year include:

• The Pope’s visit to the Blue Mosque Abu Dhabi
• Dubai Half Marathon
• Tough Mudder
• F1 Grand Prix
• Dubai Fitness Challenge

The benefits of recycling plastic affect everyone on the planet. Plastic is an incredibly useful material. It is practical, hygienic, safe and low carbon footprint making modern life easier and safer. If we are honest, we will all agree that we are now unable to live without it. When plastic was invented, it was always designed to be repurposed and recycled. 

Our Simply Bottles Initiative aims to educate and encourage people of all ages and backgrounds, to recycle their plastic and gives them a tangible reason to do so. This circular approach to recycling of plastic makes us unique in the world, not only in this region. Not only do we offer a completely free programme to schools (ensuring children of all ages can learn about the importance of recycling), we work FOC with may large scale events to ensure plastic, that would otherwise go to landfill, gets collected and recycled into products that can usefully be used in the future.

Many companies look at green or environmentally friendly ways of manufacturing but DGrade are pioneers at developing fabrics from recycled plastic bottles and have a range of 200 different fabrics including Jersey, Fleece, Twill, Micro fleece, Performance Quick Drying and Denim. 

DGRADE developed and trademarked ‘Greenspun’ as an exclusive eco-friendly, high quality yarn, produced using 100% certified post-consumer PET by Intertek. His ambition is that Greenspun will be the bench mark yarn for anyone looking to produce high quality items from an audited recycled fabric. The process of making this fabric is greener than that making conventional polyester, using 50% less energy, 20% less water and producing 55% fewer carbon emissions. It also uses NO oil (a finite resource). They are simply re-purposing natural resources that have already been mined from the planet once, to make the plastic.

With the process of recycling Polyester becoming more economical and a boomingdemand for polyester globally DGrade offer a competitive alternative to other fabrics, with a lower carbon footprint/environmental impact such as that caused by growing cotton. 

The product is high performance, hard-wearing and practical in comparison to conventional fabrics.

The machinery uses specialist optical sorting technology to sort the PET from other plastics (such as HDPE – lids), using hot and cold washing to ensure the PET flakes produced are high grade, food quality with an IV of .69-.72 which is suitable for the food packaging industry into which 80% of production will be destined. The balance 20% will go into the DGrade supply chain to make Greenspun yarns.