By Allison Watkinson
TLL Reporter
The Billabong surf and lifestyle brand has announced a sustainable wetsuit manufacturing project called Upcycler.
Included across the brand’s entire performance range, the Upcycler project uses a combination of several different technologies and updated material to reduce the environmental impact of the wetsuit creation process.
This includes repurposing discarded post-consumer textiles from jerseys, wetsuits and wetsuit liners into raw ingredients for the internal rubber needed to manufacture new wetsuit products.
The Billabong brand has also replaced all of its synthetic rubber with an all-natural FSC-certified rubber formulation that is sourced from the Hevea brasiliensis tree.
Billabong has also entered a partnership with the sustainability-focused manufacturing company, Bolder Industries, for the use of its flagship Bolder Black product for the wetsuit manufacturing process.
The Bolder Black product is a type of recycled carbon black that is produced entirely from either post-consumer or post-industrial rubber scrap to reduce greenhouse emissions, waste productions and petroleum pollution.
“At Billabong, we design, build and repair all of our products to be as durable and long-lasting as possible,” said Liberated Brands director, Scott Boot. “Unfortunately, products eventually do reach a point where they can no longer fulfill their duty but innovative solutions like upcycling old clothing and wetsuits eliminates the need for new/virgin petroleum fossil fuel derived materials and prevents them from entering landfills.”
The project at Billabong is important both for the industry and the environment. As more manufacturers and users of wetsuits have become aware of the environmental impact of neoprene, both during manufacturing and as the product ends is lifecycle, the industry has been working hard to find replacements to reduce or eliminate the impact of water sports requiring wetsuits, such as scuba diving, kayaking, and surfing.
Part of Authentic Brands Group’s Boardrider portfolio, Billabong is a global surf, performance and lifestyle apparel brand that currently offers its products in more than 100 countries worldwide.
Billabong products are sold across a global network of department and specialty stores, branded retail locations, e-commerce platforms and online stores. The Billabong brand is currently represented by Liberated Brands in North America for wholesale, retail and e-commerce.
A strategic partner of Authentic Brands Group, Liberated Brands is a global company that specializes in the sports, outdoor and lifestyle focused apparel industry.