Recycled Plastic bags have been reused on many occasions to make cushions, bags, and for energy recovery. In the latest development, a 22-year old from Dubai has invented Shoes made from Recycled Plastic bags, bottles, and rubber.
Every year, more than 1 to 5 trillion bags of plastic are used around the world. Majority of which goes uncollected and ends up clogging our rivers, choking animals, and polluting our oceans.
On average, more than 8 million tonnes of plastic waste ends up in our oceans through various sources. There is an urgent need for collecting and channeling this waste.
Innovators around the world have found solutions to use recycled plastic as a replacement for virgin resources.
Abhay Bhave, a student, and environmentalist by passion founded a brand called ‘Thaely’, which translates to a carry bag in Hindi.
Born in Mumbai, currently residing in Dubai, this budding next-gen designer created sneakers from plastic bags, bottles, and rubber. Since the beginning of 2021 Thaely has recycled about 36,000 plastic bags and 25,000 plastic bottles for its production.

The young lad took two years to successfully created fabric from plastic bags, with no use of chemicals. The created fabric was used to create a prototype which gave in insight into its ability to replace leather used in shoes.
After successful recognition and funding, the brand jumped into commercial production. Inspired by the basketball sneakers from the 2000s, the shoes were designed and were an immediate hit.
Thaely uses 10 plastic bags and 12 plastic bottles for one pair of Thaely Y2K Pros of their collection. Additionally, the shoe box packaging is made from recycled paper, dyed with waste coffee grounds, and has basil seeds embedded in it.
Like many manufacturers, Thaely faced a severe shortage in supply. They partnered with a local waste management company to procure and process their waste.
Recykal strongly believes the wide demand and supply gap in the plastic waste market must be addressed immediately. Our novel digital solutions bridge the gap between recyclers and waste generators with utmost transparency and traceability.
If you are a manufacturer looking to recycle or manufacture products from recycled PET, reach out to us and we will connect you to a nationwide network of waste generators and processors.
For more information on our products, head over to our website
Image source: Thaely.com
Information source: ELLE