OMM is one of the brands that uses PrimaLoft Gold Insulation
A high-performance outdoors insulation produced by PrimaLoft now consists of more than half recycled content, using material from plastic bottles.
The US company’s Gold Insulation, used by UK brands such as Montane, Rab, OMM and Keela, has 55 per cent post-consumer recycled content.
The update is part of PrimaLoft’s move towards a five-year goal of having at least 90 per cent of its insulation products contain at least 50 per cent post-consumer recycled materials, with no compromise on existing performance.
The new PrimaLoft Gold Insulation Eco, with its recycled plastic-bottle content, has the same performance characteristics as the original PrimaLoft Gold Insulation, which the company said is regarded as an industry benchmark for superior warmth-to-weight ratios, both wet and dry performance ratings, softness, dry times, compressibility and durability.
The change originally came about after outdoors brand Patagonia worked closely with PrimaLoft to add a post-consumer recycled component to its existing PrimaLoft Gold Insulation, but with the guarantee of existing premium performance. PrimaLoft Gold Insulation Eco was used exclusively in the Nano Puff range for one year, beginning autumn 2016.
From September 2017 all existing brand partners using PrimaLoft Gold Insulation will automatically change to the updated PrimaLoft Gold Insulation Eco with its higher recycled content and it will be available to all other outdoor brands in the future.
PrimaLoft Gold Eco contains 55 per cent recycled material
Jochen Lagemann, PrimaLoft managing director for Europe and Asia said: “Sustainability and social responsibility are deeply ingrained in the PrimaLoft corporate values and we strive to reconcile high performance with minimal environmental impact.
“Many of our brand partners are equally committed to helping the environment, so increasing the recycled content in our products will also be beneficial to their sustainability goals, without any impact on end user performance.”
PrimaLoft insulation was originally developed for the US Army as a water-resistant, synthetic alternative to down. The brand is active in sustainable textile production through partnerships with the bluesign system, the International OEKO-TEX Association and the Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s Higg Index.
