Functional jacket designed to close the textile loop

rEvolution Hybrid, an upcycled functional jacket, is the latest development from wear2wear. The three-layer jacket was developed and produced in collaboration with the European industry partnership, which aims to rapidly close the textile loop. Sympatex Technologies and Schoeller Textil are two wear2wear founding members.

According to a recent news release from Sympatex, the jacket is made from recycled, used textiles and recycled PET bottles. The manufacturing process for the rEvolution Hybrid jacket begins by mechanically reducing used 100 percent polyester (PES) textiles into fibers and converting them into granulate using an additional polymer melting process. The granulate is melted again and spun into new PES filament yarn. The yarns are then processed into textile polyester fabrics by Schoeller Textil AG and laminated to recyclable Sympatex membrane to create an unmixed, waterproof functional textile that can be recycled again.

The rEvolution Hybrid manufacturing process currently relies on 30 percent recycled used textiles. The remaining 70 percent is derived from PES yarns produced from recycled PET bottles. By using chemical upcycling processes, other substances such as polyurethane adhesives can also be dissolved into a spinnable concentration so they gradually vanish from the recycled textiles. The goal is to increase the percentage of recycled used textiles to 100 percent within the coming months, the release reported.

The underlying concept of rEvolution Hybrid is unmixed materials. The Design2Recycle concept is based on a selection of low-seam cuts of materials that are as pure-grade as possible in combination with unmixed ingredients and environmentally compatible equipment and dyes that should not affect the recycling process. Dr. Rüdiger Fox, Sympatex CEO, said, “It should be obvious that we have to try make it a priority to manufacture apparel from pure polyester materials, so that once the clothing is used, it can be recycled using a process that is easy to implement and cost-effective.” 

An integrated radio frequency ID chip helps track the jacket, the release stated, and when the time comes, upcycle it into a new life, closing the textile loop.

Sympatex develops, produces and distributes membranes, laminates and functional textiles as well as finished products worldwide.