Pre- and Post-Consumer Waste

In many of our product descriptions, you may read "our recycled nylon is made from pre-consumer waste" or "the wool used for this coat is recycled post-consumer wool." But what do these terms really mean?

What is post-consumer waste?
Post-consumer waste refers to the remnants or waste from a product or material that has already been used by a consumer. Examples include PET bottles and old textiles that are collected, recycled, and turned into yarn that can be used again.

What is pre-consumer waste?
Pre-consumer waste is the opposite, meaning waste from products or materials that have not yet reached consumers. This includes fabric scraps or yarn waste from factories.

What are the benefits of using consumer waste?
By using already existing materials, such as fabric scraps, yarn waste, or discarded plastic bottles, it's possible to avoid several energy-intensive and carbon-heavy stages that would otherwise be required to create new (virgin) fibers. This includes raw material extraction and transformation stages, as well as agricultural and manufacturing processes.

Criticism of Recycled Polyester
Our polyester garments are made from polyester sourced from 100% recycled plastic bottles, meaning post-consumer waste. By working with the recycled option, we can bypass the oil extraction needed to produce new polyester, thereby reducing (our) CO₂ emissions. However, polyester made from recycled bottles is not a perfect solution, as the material (recycled poly) is difficult to recycle again, whereas bottles, on the other hand, can be recycled multiple times. Recycled polyester also sheds microplastics. Polyester made from recycled textiles (pre or post-consumer) would be ideal, but it is still not developed enough, so the most available option we have now is recycled PET bottles. Read more about the advantages and disadvantages of recycled polyester here.