Wetsuits and other neoprene products are often underestimated as a source of pollution and waste in the landfills. However, the exponential growth of the number of people who practice various water sports, coupled with the lack of sustainable recycling system for this type of products means that the issue is getting really serious. We calculate that globally, an estimated 8380 tonnes of old wetsuits lie unused every year, with the majority headed for landfill or worse - incineration.    

Although there are quite some developments in more eco-friendly neoprene, the sourcing of the raw materials and the energy consumption during its production are still leaving a significant impact on the environment. Furthermore these more sustainable products are also going to the landfill and turned into waste rather than being fed back into the economy to become an input for manufacturing new products. 

Being a very environmentally-conscious organization and running our own manufacturing of neoprene products in Bulgaria since 2013, we have been looking for different ways to recycle old neoprene products and offcuts from manufacturing. Partnering with the leading Higher Chemico-technological institute of Bulgaria, we took the initiative to investigate and analyze ways in which to recycle neoprene which culminated in our unique neoprene recycling process that we launched in the end of 2022. 

Just next to our existing facility for manufacturing finished products, we set up the first factory in the world that is capable of recycling wetsuits and neoprene manufacturing offcuts at large scale. In this way we became fully circular with zero-waste manufacturing activities and use products and materials that would otherwise end up in the landfill or incinerated to make recycled neoprene. We then use the recycled neoprene to make new finished products next door in our cut and sew facility.  

With our core partner Circular Flow, we also started setting up neoprene collection centers across Europe, aiming to minimize the number of wetsuits going to the landfill and provide the necessary feedstock for the recycling programme to be sustainable and growing. You can watch a brief overview of our project at the link below:

Neoprene recycling for circular economy

For additional information about our project or starting a collaboration, please reach out via e-mail or phone.