Patagonia Launches Common Threads Recycling. Updated

Patagonia, as we’ve previously noted continue to do groovy stuff in the textile industry. Like jeans from blended hemp/PET bottles, jackets from more of those recycled PET plastics and soon a line of footwear. Now the company announces they’ve finally found a way to act on something they’ve been wanting to implement for years. Making new clothes from old. vauDe in Germany pioneered this concept but Patagonia, in typical fashion, are taking it to the next level. (The vauDe Ecolog program was to take old polyester products and turn them into new trims.A form of recycling known as 'downcycling'.) Patagonia will, however, collect unwanted polyester Capilene underwear and process their fibres into genuine new garments. Thanks largely to the EcoCircle fibre-to-fibre recycling system developed by Teijin, of Japan. It’s figured that the resulting born-again fibre will save 76% the energy and 71% the CO2 emissions of using virgin polyester. Customers can start returning garments as of 12 September 05. Via ::Sports Textiles.

Update: Spying the above post, BackCountry.com advised us they were also covering the story and in their version they have a link to the Patagonia site, which has comprehensive FAQs and graphics on how it all works. Thanks Kendall.