Patagonia introduces plant-based alternative to neoprene wetsuits
19/11/2012
After four years of working together, the companies have have developed a material that allows them to make a wetsuit that is 60% guayule (plant) based.
Jason McCaffrey, Patagonia's surf director, explained: "When we started to build wetsuits we knew that neoprene, by nature of its production, was the most environmentally harmful part of the product. Our initial approach was to use innovative materials, like wool, that are highly insulating and allowed us to use as little neoprene as possible. But we quickly realized that we needed to create a new material that could be a true alternative to neoprene.
"Our goal is to have the formula be 100% plant based, but we feel that for now this new material is a big enough step forward to let the world know it is possible to buy something cleaner. This is just the first step; it's our hope that other brands see this as interesting and join the effort to innovate and implement alternatives to traditional neoprene that is used in wetsuits."
Yulex's biorubber material is made from guayule, a renewable, non-food crop that requires little water, uses no pesticides and has a comparably clean manufacturing process.
Initially, the suits will only be available in Japan, although from next spring, surfers will be able to order them from Patagonia's wetsuit facility in California, with a global rollout to follow.
Jeff Martin, CEO of Yulex, said: "Yulex commends Patagonia for supporting the advancement of a sustainable, low-carbon future by embracing agricultural-based, biomaterials to replace petroleum-based synthetics. Yulex views this partnership as a major step towards a future where use of our renewable, guayule-based biomaterials is the industry standard for consumer, medical, industrial and bioenergy products."
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