Patagonia asks Koreans to join Tee-Cycle recycling scheme
US outdoor brand Patagonia has rolled out its Worn Wear take-back programme to South Korea as part of a one-month, nationwide pilot recycling scheme during the month of June.
Specifically, the brand is requesting that customers drop off 100% cotton t-shirts that they no longer wear from Patagonia or any other brand at dedicated in-store collection stations, local media have reported.
The garments will then be recycled into Tee-Cycle t-shirts, first launched in the US earlier this year, which the California-based company has previously described as its “first stab at designing a product with its full life-cycle in mind”. Hence, Patagonia’s objective is to own all waste generated over the t-shirt’s lifespan, it said.
Tee-Cycle t-shirts will be sold as a blend of pre-consumer mechanically recycled cotton and post-consumer chemically recycled cotton, a composition which reportedly creates virgin-quality fibre and, as it is part of a closed loop, "might never see landfill”, according to the firm. Tops from this line currently retail for $49 apiece online.
Whereas reports from within South Korea suggest that the 100% cotton t-shirts collected locally by Patagonia will be sent to Finland for recycling into new textile fibres, the brand itself has not disclosed this. It did sign a multi-year agreement with Finnish regenerated fibre manufacturer Infinited Fiber Company last year, however.
Mexican textile mill and sewing factory Vertical Knits is listed as the maker of Tee-Cycle garments on Patagonia’s US website.
After an initial trial run in June, integrating the t-shirt take-back scheme into regular retail store operations across South Korean will be considered. All participants who donate 100% cotton tees this month will receive a complimentary branded sticker pack from Patagonia.
Image: Patagonia.
