Finisterre gets into wetsuit recycling flow
15/06/2022
After more than six years of testing, Circular Flow says it has developed a non-toxic method which allows for the processing of waste neoprene into regenerated neoprene sheets, without removing the laminate. It can also go on to laminate “almost any” material on top of the recycled sheets, it said.
This recycling process can be repeated up to seven times.
B Corp-certified Finisterre, which recently raised roughly $5.4 million during its second-ever crowdfunding campaign, has been promoting the collaboration using the #WetsuitsFromWetsuits hashtag on social media.
The Cornish firm is operating a take-back programme until the end of June, during which it will accept clean and dry wetsuits purchased from any company in exchange for 20% off future purchases at its own touchpoints. After 1,000 pre-owned wetsuits have been collected, the garments will then be sent to Circular Flow’s Bulgarian facility for recycling.
Once recycled, Circular Flow will work with Finisterre to refashion recycled sheets into retail-ready designs, which will then be tagged with a trackable QR code prior to being shipped back to the brand for sale as "new" products for "new adventures".
According to the brand, articles produced as part of the project could reach the market as soon as spring 2023.
“There have been great advances in eco wetsuits and the search for alternatives to petroleum-based neoprene, but the real elephant in the room for the water sports industry is what to do with a wetsuit at the end of its functional life,” commented Finisterre founder, Tom Kay.
“We are therefore very excited to have finally found a closed-loop solution for wetsuit and neoprene waste – and we have been searching for some time!”
Image: Finisterre via Instagram.
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