Sports apparel is designed and produced for each new sports season. The clothing is unusable for the next season because of new sponsors or new designs, creating a massive amount of textile waste that ends up in landfills.
Reflo is a sustainable performancewear brand that is disrupting the sportswear industry. The company designs and produces top-quality athletic wear from recycled materials for athletes ranging from soccer players to race car drivers. The recyclable sportswear brand pioneered a unique technology called Reloop, which is how the company turns plastic waste into mono-fiber garments — that can be recycled postseason.
“That’s what we’re experts at,” Reflo CEO Rory MacFadyen said about designing a product to be recycled in one of the brand’s YouTube videos. This is done without sacrificing the performance of the athletic wear. One of the criteria for producing recyclable sportswear is to use mono-fiber, meaning everything from one source. Oftentimes, this material is recycled polyester.
“Everything from the buttons to the thread to the yarns we use is made from recycled plastic,” MacFadyen explained.
The Reloop technology not only provides a sustainable solution for sports teams and their need for a new sports kit each season, but it also reduces the amount of textile waste that goes to landfills. By creating recyclable garments, Reflo helps conserve natural resources while reserving a blank canvas for next season’s designs.
Puma is another leading sportswear brand using recycled textiles and other waste materials for new sportswear. You can also find upcycled and recycled goods ranging from everyday clothing to homemade candles on DoneGood, a sustainable and ethical online marketplace.
Reflo is changing the standards for high-quality, sustainable performance wear for athletes across various sports. The brand has already become the official team wear supplier for Jaguar TCS Racing and several Formula E racing teams, including Nissan and Andretti, according to Endurance Sportswire.
Reflo’s impact on the sustainable performance wear industry will continue growing as the brand partners and works with more sports teams and athletes.
“This isn’t just about a few teams making sustainable choices — it’s an industry-wide transformation. … We’re proud to help set a new standard for performance wear that combines innovation, high performance, and environmental responsibility,” MacFadyen said, per Endurance Sportswire.
