What We’re Doing About Our Plastic Problem

Polyester has undeniable benefits, says Ryan Thompson, Patagonia’s manager of materials R&D for the technical knit, naturals and trim categories. “In historic alpine insulation systems, the material of choice was almost always wool,” says Thompson. “The transition to polyester happened because we could offer an economical alternative to wool with similar performance and comfort characteristics.” While wool takes days to dry out, polyester can keep you safe and dry if the weather shifts in the backcountry. Thompson notes, “It’s a great material to layer. We can manage polyester’s affinity to water, it’s durable even at light weights and it’s easier to maintain because it’s machine washable and dryable.”

Today, our materials team uses recycled polyester made from used soda bottles and unusable manufacturing waste to create new polyester fibers for clothing. And our extensive field testing shows it performs just as well, if not better, as gear made from virgin polyester. Using recycled fabrics limits our dependence on petroleum as a source of raw materials and prolongs landfill life, while also reducing toxic emissions from incinerations. This fall, 69 percent of all Patagonia materials will be derived from recycled materials. Switching to recycled from virgin materials also means we’ve reduced our carbon footprint by 13,000 tons of CO2e. Our goal is to use only renewable or recycled materials in our products by 2025.

To solve our plastic pollution problem at its root, we are partnering with scientists, researchers and other apparel companies. Our gear and care guides are meant to inform customers on how to keep gear in play longer. Our supply chain stories tell the reality of what goes into making clothes—our effort to educate customers to make informed shopping decisions. By talking openly about our trials and failures in minimizing our impact, we hope to inspire solutions and collaboration within the clothing industry.

Microfibers

Microfibers are tiny fibers five millimeters or smaller that fall from synthetic garments—such as polyester fleece or nylon shorts—during washing and can get past or around the filtration system in treatment plants and end up in the ocean, on beaches and in rivers and lakes, and sometimes settle in places where they don’t belong, like in the belly of a fish.

Patagonia first found out about microfibers in 2011 when research from marine biologist Dr. Mark Anthony Browne at UCSB found high concentrations of microplastics, specifically fibers, on beaches all around the world. Fleece was initially flagged as the main culprit, but we have since learned that all fabrics contribute to the problem. Both synthetic and natural materials produce shedding during washing, and scientists are still looking into the impact of microfibers coming from different materials. Whereas natural fibers eventually biodegrade, synthetic ones do not, which adds to the growing plastic problem in our oceans.

To date, we have funded five projects looking at solutions to pollution from microfibers. We charged our own materials development team to identify fiber types and construction techniques that minimize shedding. To aid that effort, we commissioned a study from North Carolina State University to help us understand which characteristics in fabrics lead to microfiber release—and to develop a rapid test methodology to assess the potential of fabrics to shed during laundering. Most recently, we partnered with REI, MEC and Arc’teryx to commission a study from the nonprofit Ocean Wise, the Vancouver Aquarium and Metro Vancouver on the effectiveness of that region’s wastewater treatment plants at filtering microfibers. We’ve been writing all about these efforts and what we learned on our blog.