Yoga Democracy, a manufacturer of women's yoga apparel, has added recycled nylon made from fishing nets to the company’s product line-up, which includes leggings, sports tops and shorts. Now, the company says, it is the first US manufacturer to introduce this Eco Tech Fabric into the yoga wear space.

Ocean litter is a major ecological problem. While the exact figure is hard to pin down, a report jointly issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the UN Environment Program (UNEP), estimated that 640,000 tons of abandoned nets are spread across the world's oceans, representing 10% of ocean trash.

By finding an alternative use for abandoned fishing nets, putting them to use to make high quality fabric, a financial incentive is created for industry to change how it disposes of materials at the end of their industrial life. It also gives consumers a sustainable alternative to standard nylon that is one of the most energy intensive fabrics to produce.

Use of recycled fibres

While the use of recycled fibres is not new to the sportswear industry, most notably adaptation of recycled polyester made from recycled plastic bottles, nylon has received considerably less attention, the company reports.

“The fashion industry's take-up has been slow reflecting the high costs for sustainable nylon alternatives and technological challenges in converting material back into nylon 6 yarn for use in textiles,” the company explains.

US consumers consumed around US$ 97 billion of athleisure apparel in 2015. A switch by consumers to recycled synthetic fibres would have a major impact on the industry's environmental footprint. For every 10,000 tons of regenerated material 70,000 barrels of oil are conserved. Yoga Democracy, with its direct to the consumer retail model and in-house sewing production, aims to make sustainable techno fabrics accessible to the average consumer. 

Econyl yarn

Yoga Democracy uses two different types of recycled nylon, both made with Econyl yarn from recycled material and produced by Italy-based Aquafil Group.

The company says it is committed to making recycled nylon a core part of its line-up, alongside recycled polyester made from recycled plastic bottles, which makes up the bulk of the fabric it uses in production. All its recycled polyester is hand-dyed using a zero-water, low energy sublimation process at the Yoga Democracy workshop in Cave Creek, AZ.

www.yogademocracy.com