Repreve Fibers Made from Recycled Plastic Bottles Used in Volcom Clothing

Repreve recycled fiber helps Volcom make higher-grade, more sustainable products for a new future

Since 2012, Volcom has been addressing the impacts of our raw materials with our partner Repreve by first including Repreve fibers in our t-shirts, and has since included it in woven tops, fleece, pants, boardshorts, and more as a part of our ongoing environmental sustainability push. We’re proud to announce that since 2012, Volcom has helped recycle more than 10 Million plastic bottles that have gone on to find a second life in our products. Throughout our business, New Future program, and sustainability efforts, we are actively addressing our environmental and social impacts with a commitment to responsible manufacturing practices, better fiber sourcing, robust impact evaluation, and meaningful give backs.

IN THIS ARTICLE:

  • What is Repreve?
  • Why you should care about Repreve
  • Product facts and benefits of Repreve 
  • Champions of Sustainability Award
  • Technical talk
  • New future goals
  • What can you do?
WHAT IS REPREVE?
  • Repreve is a brand of recycled fiber that is made from recycled materials including used plastic bottles, which in turn is used to make sustainable clothing items and other products. More than 10 billion plastic bottles have been recycled by Repreve, and they are aiming for another 10 billion bottles by 2020.
  • You will find Repreve in the following Volcom products: Frickin Chinos, select Mod Tech Boardshorts, Frickin Chino Shorts, Stone Storm Jacket, Everett Solid Wovens, and core fabric fleece tees.
WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?
  • The abundance of plastics that are used in our daily lives – plastic bottles included – is becoming a global environmental and social issue that we can no longer ignore.
  • Each minute, a million plastic bottles are bought around the world. That’s nearly 20,000 bottles being bought every second of every day this year. That’s more than a million plastic bottles per minute, most of which are not recycled.
  • Our consumption of plastic bottles each year will likely top half a trillion by 2021. With lackluster recycling efforts, plastic bottles are jeopardizing oceans, coastlines and other environments.
PRODUCT FACTS AND BENEFITS OF REPREVE
  • There are about five plastic bottles in each boardshort made with Repreve
  • Nearly 30% of the fibers that Volcom uses are polyester, second only to cotton
  • Repreve fabric is made by transforming recycled bottles into an amazing fiber for reliable, durable quality clothing.

When compared to the manufacturing of conventional / virgin polyester, mechanically-recycled polyester, per 1Kg of Woven Polyester fabric, results in:

  • Approximately 62% less energy used
  • About 99% less water used
  • Up to 35% less waste created
  • Upwards of 20% less CO2 emitted
CHAMPIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY AWARD

Volcom’s preferred recycled fiber supplier is Repreve (a division of Unifi) who just recently announced that they had recycled their 10 billionth bottle and are on track to recycle even more: 20 billion by 2020! To celebrate that landmark, Repreve announced their Champions of Sustainability Award honoring brand partners who have helped them hit that landmark number along the way. Volcom is proud to be one of those brands having recycled at least 10 million bottles in our products to date.

TECHNICAL TALK

Typically, when crude oil is refined, there’s a chemical extraction, then a polymerization, followed by a spinning of fiber into yarns. Lastly, the yarns are then woven into fabrics. The impacts of this process are energy use, GHGs, and air emissions.

Recycled polyester eliminates the crude oil (conserving a precious resource), refinery, and chemical extraction stages. Instead, plastic bottles are collected, washed, separated, chopped, ground, melted, and reformulated into a recycled chip, which are then melted and extruded into filament fiber to be used for the yarn and fabric process.

NEW FUTURE GOALS

Because polyester plays such an important role in Volcom’s material profile, and because so much our impacts come from raw material sourcing and processing, Volcom is committed to using more recycled content in our fabrics. In fact, by 2020, Volcom has committed to at least 20% of the synthetic fibers in the product range coming from recycled sources. This may not seem like much, but in 2014, only 2% of our fibers were from recycled sources. In 2017, we were at 17%. A continuous push towards a New Future!

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

As a customer, it’s pretty simple. Help build a Smart Society!

  1. Reduce the amount of single-use plastic you’re consuming.
  2. Break away from relying on bottled water where and when you can. Need a nudge? Check out this awesome infographic with encouraging reasons to ditch the bottle, and watch Story of Stuff’s captivating eight-minute video on “The Story of Bottled Water.”
  3. When you do use a bottle, RECYCLE IT, which in turn gives that bottle gets a chance to be made into a Volcom boardshort! Where to recycle? What can I recycle? Check here for recycling centers near you and to find out what items can be recycled.