PET Recycling

With the "Globe" (face value: CHF 6.30), a stamp embroidered from recycled PET thread, Philately Liechtenstein would like to draw attention to the topic of environmental protection and especially to the recovery of recyclable materials from waste. The stamp was produced by embroidery manufacturer Hämmerle & Vogel in Lustenau, Austria. For this purpose, 3,100 PET bottles with a volume of 600 ml each were processed to make cleaned flakes before producing a new high-quality polyester yarn from them.

Seventy-five metres of thread were processed for each stamp. With an issue of 40,000 stamps, this means that three million metres of recycled polyester thread were used. This length is sufficient to surround the external border of the Principality of Liechtenstein forty times. A comparison of the amount of work involved is equally impressive: While the embroidery machine with over one million revolutions produced the issue in the shortest possible time, a single hand embroiderer would take about 25 years to produce all the stamps. The new, five-centimetre self-adhesive stamp in the shape of a globe is not only intended as a collector's item or for franking a postal item, it can also decorate your own clothes or other accessories to show your personal commitment to environmental protection and sustainability.