Patagonia's Ongoing Recycling Program

The goal of Patagonia's Common Threads program is to sell only recycled and recyclable products by 2010. It's becoming a difficult challenge

By Heather Green

The idea seems so simple. Why can't apparel be as recyclable as, say, plastic bottles or newspapers? After all, many garments hang around in closets long past the point when anyone wants to wear them, only to wind up in landfills.

Patagonia has spent years tackling this problem—and is making progress. As of this fall, the outdoor clothing company has taken back 12,000 kilograms of clothing to be recycled. Some 47% of Patagonia's products are recyclable today. And the goal is to boost that to 100% by 2010, meaning everything from luggage to ski parkas will be both recyclable and made from recycled materials. But experts inside and outside the company say that to hit the new target, Patagonia has to overcome daunting technical challenges.

Patagonia's efforts date back to 2005, when it launched Common Threads, the first global recycling program for apparel. The company began with modest goals. It asked people to mail in or drop off at stores used Capilene brand underwear made from polyester. Patagonia was able to recycle these goods into new "base layer" shirts and pullovers. Encouraged by customer feedback and partnerships with clothing recyclers, it expanded the program to include organic cottons and fleece polyester products.

It's true that recycling cottons and polyesters adds to costs. But Patagonia executives say prosperity shouldn't come at the expense of the environment. And besides, they say, there is an economic payoff in the end: Using recycled polyester to produce goods that are recyclable reduces waste and leads to a 76% reduction in energy use, compared to identical processes that rely on new polyester. "The idea is to take responsibility for our products at the end of their lives," says Jill Dumain, director for environmental analysis at Patagonia.

Closed Loop Systems

And yet, as the retailer grows more ambitious in recycling, the hurdles get higher. The buzzwords in this area are "closed loop systems" and "cradle-to-cradle" design. Popularized by environmental architect and design guru William McDonough, these terms express the goal of turning castoff goods and industrial waste into new products that are just as desirable as the original goods. For example, rather than fuse plastic bottles into building materials that will wind up in landfills, the producer might turn old plastic bottles into material for new plastic bottles. That way, raw resources aren't needed to produce the same amount of goods. Environmentalists find this idea inspiring. But pioneers in the green business sector say closed loop systems are very much works in progress.

Patagonia realized that, in order to increase the supply of recycled materials for its own products, it needed to get other big apparel companies onto the same page. About two years ago, it teamed up with two of its biggest competitors, REI and Timberland (TBL), to discuss reducing all the companies' environmental "footprints" through recycling and other methods. "We view this as a collective challenge," says Kevin Myette, director of product integrity at REI. "Patagonia gets a lot of credit, but for this to move ahead it has to be a group effort."

Nothing highlights the challenges better than Patagonia's struggles with nylon, the fabric used in 15% to 20% of Patagonia's goods, from yoga gear to ski pants. Nylon turns out to be a real stumper. When Patagonia began looking at recyclable and recycled nylon, the one producer that could meet its requirements was Toray, a Japanese textile maker. But having just one supplier proved problematic.