Fall - InsideOutdoor Magazine

for this waste, while expanding the
growth and reach of the Repreve brand.”
Both Unifi and Polartec have worked
with military apparel manufacturer,
Peckham Inc. of Lansing, Mich., to define
a process allowing for Polartec polyester
cut-waste to be recycled back into Polartec’s
exclusive Repreve 100 branded yarn. This
new yarn will now include a blend of recycled
bottles and recycled fabrics and will
be used to produce performance Polartec
fabrics for the outdoor apparel market.
“In typical garment manufacturing,
10 to 20 percent of all fabric produced
becomes cut-waste left over after panels
are cut,” said Andy Vecchione, president
and CEO of Polartec. “This fabric has historically
been down cycled into batting or
simply sent to the landfill. We can now use
this waste stream to create new, first-quality
performance Polartec fabrics.”
In 2011, more than 40 percent of
Polartec’s total production will utilize
Repreve 100 recycled yarns, said Vecchione,
and the company expects that
number to grow in 2012 and beyond.
The Takeback Program was made possible
by Unifi’s new $8 million recycling
center, which opened in the early part of
this year. The new plant consists of two
spinning lines: one for the conversion of
post-consumer flake into chip and one for
the production of the hybrid chip, which
will recycle both internal pre-consumer
industrial waste along with those scraps
from manufacturing partners. As long
as scraps are 100 percent polyesters, the
waste will be ground, torn, shredded and
melted and reformed into Repreve chip
before being re-extruded as a solutiondyed
black Repreve yarn.
Unifi is currently looking for qualified
Repreve customers to join the Textile
Takeback program. Applicants will
be asked to undergo an initial approval
process to become further qualified as a
program participant. The qualification
also will be used to help develop a process
the fits everyone needs, says Unifi.
Participant eligibility starts with being
a Repreve customer. And since Unifi
employs mechanical recycling, the focus
right now is on recycling supply chain
fabric waste made from polyester and
post-consumer polyester fabrics at the
end of life.
The Textile Takback Program currently
is available only in the Americas
due to the location of the new Repreve
Recycling Center, but the company is
working to expand the program into
other geographic areas, including Asia.
Neoshell Wins
Derryck Draper
Award
Polartec NeoShell, billed as the
most breathable waterproof fabric
on the market, has been voted most
outstanding outdoor product innovation
during the last 12 months by the
United Kingdom’s Outdoor Writers
and Photographers Guild. The guild’s
panel of outdoor experts represents
some of the top media professionals
specializing in sustainable outdoor
activities and the environment.
This year’s panel of judges, which
included U.K. writers Chris Townsend,
Judy Armstrong, Graham Thompson
and Tom Hutton, were unanimous
in their decision to give the award to
Polartec NeoShell, said Roly Smith,
president of the Outdoor Writers and
You’re always
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The Outdoor Accessories People
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