Adele, Finisterre, Senior Positive Impact Manager
We believe that the most sustainable product is the one you already own. That’s why our Lived & Loved repairs team have been breathing new life into old favourites for years. In the last 12 months we have added new repairs services and demand has increased +17% vs last year . We have also introduced an at home repair kit with tutorials to help make it easy for our customer to repair their old gear at home.
We’d much rather breathe new life into our old products than see them added to landfill. That’s why we have partnered with Reskinned. In April 2022 we launched our brand resale platform as the second phase of part of our takeback program. Reskinned take old Finisterre gear and recondition it for re-sale – keeping product out of landfill and on adventures, where it belongs. And for clothing that’s been on one too many adventures, they either upcycle it into new products or fully recycle the materials. Nothing goes to waste.
We have partnered with Project Plan B to help us work towards a truly circular goal of making jackets from jackets. Project Plan B have developed a mechanical extrusion technology which mechanically recycles post consumer polyester back into clean, compact rPET pellets. As the fabric development continues we have been testing alternative uses for any lower grade rPET pellets and have made buttons from jackets.
In 2017, we launched our Wetsuits from Wetsuits programme with the sole intention of introducing circularity to the wetsuit industry. However, as we dove deeper realised that the complex make up of a wetsuit would make this problem anything but simple to solve. We have invested significant research and development into clean alternatives to neoprene, yet, despite switching to lower impact materials being a step in the right direction, it still did not solve the ultimate end-of-life problem. In March 2022 we commenced an exciting new stage of this programme as we began working with neoprene recycling experts Circular Flow to launch an innovative 100% closed-loop recyclable neoprene partnership. Over the past six years Circular Flow has developed new technology and manufacturing processes that bonds the particles from the shredded wetsuits without removing the textile laminate. This enables them to process 100% of the returned neoprene items and produce a stable and durable recycled material that can be used to manufacture a wide range of new products. Every component of the suits is recycled, including zips and plastic elements, so that no waste is generated. Following a 1 month wetsuit amenity in June 2022 we collected 1,000 end of life wetsuits that are in the process of being recycled. We hope to have first prototypes by end of Autumn 22.
*Reskinned and Project Plan B are also WCTD Signatories.
Challenge
Resources – Time and Finance. Knowledge / understanding. Integration into existing supply chains.
Need
Open sourcing partnership, smaller MOQ’s.
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