Patagonia will be using Lenzing's Tencel closed-loop fibers in its...

Patagonia will be using Lenzing's Tencel closed-loop fibers in its products starting next spring. The new material that Lenzing has developed turns pre-consumer waste cotton scraps, which would otherwise be discarded, into Tencel fibers. The process consists in taking the fabric scraps from post-industrial waste, removing contaminants such as resins and dyestuffs, and producing a cotton cellulose pulp, which is then blended with wood pulp by adding solvent and water only. The output of this process is Tencel fiber and water. The process is said to use 95 percent less water than it takes to produce cotton. Patagonia pioneered using recycled materials in its apparel starting with polyester in the 1990s.