Dive Brief:

• The North Face announced the expansion of its recycling program, Clothes the Loop, with all proceeds going to The Conservation Alliance.
• The outdoor apparel and equipment company’s goal is to encourage recycling and  promote the recycling of used, unwanted clothing and footwear from any brand.
• After starting the pilot program at 10 retail locations in February 2013; today Clothes the Loop is offered at all 83 U.S. North Face retail and outlet shops.

Dive Insight:

The North Face said that in two years, the company has diverted over 14,540 pounds of clothing and shoes from landfills.

The company partnered with I:Collect (I:CO) to recycle and reuse clothing discarded at bins inside The North Face shops. The collected materials are transported to a recycling center, sorted into one of hundreds of categories. From there, the textiles are assigned a category of: repurpose, reworn, or recycle. Materials are transferred into new products like insulation, carpet padding, toy stuffing or fiber for new clothing. 

In January, The North Face announced that it is using materials from Repreve in its line of Denali jackets.