PrimaLoft Develops Its First Insulation Made Entirely From Recycled PET Bottles

The outdoor industry is looking more and more for sustainable solutions. The PrimaLoft development team has strived to create an insulation made exclusively from post-consumer recycled (PCR) content, which fully meets all PrimaLoft performance standards. Following much development, using various production processes and tests, the material experts at PrimaLoft have now achieved a breakthrough.

At this year's OutDoor Show in Friedrichshafen (Hall A1/500), the insulation materials and functional textiles specialist will present the results of intensive research, introducing new PrimaLoft Silver Insulation - 100% PCR and PrimaLoft Black Insulation - 100% PCR, as well as PrimaLoft Gold Insulation Luxe™.

PrimaLoft is well known for challenging itself and pushing the boundaries with its innovations. Until now the challenge had been to produce a high-performance insulation made entirely from recycled material. The main problem is, the melting points of the collected PET bottles used to create the recycled fibers differ from that of virgin fibers, which makes the production of a stable insulation fiber that meets performance standards very difficult.

PrimaLoft has risen to the challenge, developing special recycling and production processes, resulting in the successful production of extremely high-performance fibers that are finer and softer than cashmere and boast high bulk density and unmatched thermal performance. The insulation has all the renowned properties that have made PrimaLoft the benchmark in performance insulation, such as low weight, high compressibility and water-repellent characteristics. Around nine commercially available PET bottles are necessary to create the insulation layer for one jacket (thickness 40g / m2).

Jochen Lagemann, Managing Director PrimaLoft Europe and Asia, commented: "With the new 100%-PCR insulation, we offer our customers the perfect product that combines performance, comfort and sustainability.  The response from our brand partners has been overwhelming so far. This innovation is also another important step towards achieving our own sustainability goals."

By 2020, PrimaLoft plans to produce 90% of its insulation products with at least 50% recycled fiber. Most recently, the ingredient brand had provided its pinnacle products, PrimaLoft Gold Insulation and PrimaLoft Gold Insulation Active +, with 55% recycled content.

It's no surprise that outdoor specialist Vaude is one of the first companies to use the most sustainable synthetic insulation on the market for its products. Starting in the winter season 2018/19, Vaude will convert all products that were previously equipped with PrimaLoft Silver and Black Insulation to the 100% PCR versions by summer season 2019.

Aaron Bittner, Head of Apparel at Vaude commented: "One of our key goals is to reduce the use of fossil fuels in our products and create closed circuits. PrimaLoft provides us with innovative solutions on this path ‘away from the oil'. Thanks to our longstanding ingredient partner, we are delighted to be able to use high-performance insulation made from 100% recycled material for the first time. "

Other partners of the first hour in sports and fashion include: 66 North, Armed Angels, J Lindeberg, Maloja or Sweet Protection.