LAWRENCE, Mass. — September 13, 2012 — Polartec partner brand Norrøna announces the release of the
100-percent recycled men’s and women’s /29 warm4 up-cycled Jackets, built of Polartec® Wind Pro®
fleece made entirely of REPREVE® 100 yarn. Polartec uses REPREVE 100 yarn from Unifi for over
50-percent of its domestic production.
The REPREVE yarn was made from recycled bottles collected in Norrøna’s home country, Norway,
in collaboration with Tomra and Norsk Resirk. About 40 plastic bottles were used to make each /29
warm4 up-cycled Jacket. By using PET bottles instead of the traditional use of crude oil in
production, Norrøna takes a step in the right direction towards reducing the carbon footprint of
the /29 warm4 up-cycled Jacket. It takes approximately 2 kg crude oil to produce 1 kg of raw
material in the traditional process.
The particular recycled Polartec® Wind Pro® fabric features a high loft interior, providing
increased warmth without weight. Polartec® Wind Pro® is four times more wind resistant than
traditional fleece, highly breathable, durable, and water repellent, making the /29 warm4 up-cycled
Jacket a very versatile product for the whole year.
“We are now launching our first sports garment made exclusively from returned bottles,” says
Norrøna owner and chief executive Jørgen Jørgensen. “The goal is to recycle up the value chain, so
that bottles can be turned into advanced sportswear.”
“For a long time, a fairly low proportion of recycled material was used; as little as 10
percent, says Chuck Haryslak of Polartec. “But after a while we were able to add more and more and
can now make a fabric without adding fresh polyester and without a loss of quality.”
“When Norrøna brought this idea to us, we were very excited about the opportunity to prove
out the concept that we can provide our customers with custom recycling solutions,” said Mark
McNeill, product development manager for Unifi. “With our unique capabilities at the REPREVE
Recycling Center, we were able to offer Norrøna a REPREVE based product made from bottles collected
in their country with performance equal to virgin.”
Posted on September 18, 2012
Source: Polartec LLC
