Develop recyclable wetsuits
In 2017, UK surf brand Finisterre partnered with the University of Exeter's centre of material re-engineering to explore the possibility of turning old wetsuits into new ones!
In the UK alone, around 380 tonnes of old wetsuits end up in landfill every year.
Benefits
- No compromise on effectiveness
- Pioneering design-process approach of creating wetsuits that can be recycled and repurposed
- Future plans for buy-back scheme for chemical recycling of traditional suits
Challenges
- Traditional wetsuits are very difficult to recycle due to their composition
- Relies on consumer returning the product (behaviour change)
- Still in development
Making A Difference
Finisterre is teaming up with pioneers in the recycling industry to further explore the chemical recycling of suits in their current form, and launching a wetsuit 'buy back scheme' where old suits can be traded in.
There are hundreds of other ways to solve plastic pollution
Explore