Japanese turn used bras into fuel
Underwear makers Triumph International and Wacoal have been recycling used brassieres to make industrial fuel.
Wacoal wants you to know that February 12 is Bra Day.
(Credit: Wacoal)Don't underestimate the power of Japan's brassieres.
We've seen Japanese bras that can grow rice, pressure men to propose, double as a golf green, and even offer messages of support in a crisis.
Now Japanese underwear makers are turning bras into an alternative fuel.
Wait, that was an undergarment once? Converted into fuel, bras are powering boilers and generators.
(Credit: Japan RPF Association)Triumph International and Wacoal have been collecting used bras from customers and turning the raw materials minus the metal into refuse paper and plastic fuel (RPF), which is used to power industrial boilers and power generators.
The two companies have collected nearly 380,000 bras and generated about 32 tons of RPF over the last few years, according to a Kyodo News article.
In addition to recycling bras in Japan, Wacaol has also been collecting bras from its stores in Taiwan.
On its Web site, the Japan RPF Association says RPF costs a third to a fourth the price of coal, and has a comparable combustion efficiency.
The fuel can be made from numerous post-consumer materials, including laminated paper, film, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), commonly used in drink bottles.
But aside from helping to reduce dependence of fossil fuels, the bra-recycling program may have a social benefit.
Many Japanese women are reluctant to toss out their old bras, Kyodo notes, because they're "concerned about their underwear being stolen by perverts."
(Via The Japan Times)
