Closed Loop Recycling Targets Zero Waste and Environmental Responsibility

For many people who have not heard the term, closed loop recycling, it is time everyone did. Closed loop recycling is a major advance in recycling that seeks to achieve zero waste by completely reusing, recycling, or composting all materials. 

The manufacturers that are making closed loop recycling happen are the visionaries of our zero waste future. Take for example, the lifecycle of carpeting. Carpet maker and industry icon, Ray Anderson, CEO,  Interface, Inc., has set out to prove our environmental impact is as important as economic impact.  Interface has created closed-loop carpet recycling and has essentially set an example for others to follow. 

Interface relies on a big machine, called Cool Blue, located at the company’s InterfaceFLOR® facility, to recycle existing carpet fiber to make new carpet fiber and recycle existing carpet backing to make new carpet backing. The closed loop recycle process is the innovation of the company’s RePrise Collection (see video). In fact, the company has a return & recycle program for its FLOR products so that no products go to a landfill.

Patagonia is another equally important industry player taking center stage in closed loop recycling and environmental responsibility. As previously reported here, Patagonia is the first outdoor sportswear company to switch to 100% organic cotton in 1996 due to conventional cotton’s high pesticide use. As originally developed in 2005, Patagonia’s Common Threads Recycling Program and Teijin, a progressive manufacturer in Japan using its ECOCIRCLE(TM) recycling system, provide a means to take back Patagonia fleece (except I’ll be wearing my 20-year old Patagonia Synchilla® fleece) and Polartec fleece from other manufacturers, and Capiliene base layers and  cotton T-shirts from Patagonia. Patagonia's goal for its Spring 2011 line is to recycle 90% of its products, as reported on Trailspace.

What, then, are our lessons and choices, knowing what we've learned about closed loop recycling?

Our Lessons:

Be aware of closed loop recycled products; read the manufacturer’s labels and inquire whether the products include recycled content or are recyclable.

Advocate closed loop recycled products; buy from manufacturers that are investing in these sustainable business practices.

Reduce your consumption of materials that are polluting landfills, air, and water quality.

Our Choices:

Live a life that will improve sustainability; choose our own good health and the health of our environment.  

Let’s not forget sustainability requires impacting positive change in our lives in the present; it is through environmental and social responsibility that we can lessen the impact on future generations.

Changing your clothes for good, as Patagonia’s message hints, is that we’re responsible, too.