The company turning 4 billion plastic bottles into clothes

Some 400,000 college students will accept diplomas this year while wearing gowns made entirely of plastic bottles.

It's not a joke or a gimmick. It's a statement on how to keep trash out of landfills, said Jay Hertwig, VP of global branding for textile maker Unifi.

Unifi, based in Greensboro, North Carolina, produces 300 million pounds of polyester and nylon yarn annually.

"As a manufacturer, we asked ourselves what we could do to be more innovative and a socially responsible company," said Hertwig.

Repreve was the answer. It's the firm's flagship fiber brand made from recycled materials.

See original source here:  http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/16/technology/plastic-bottles-fabric-repreve/index.html