VAUDE_Microplasty

Fleece clothing made of biodegradable fibres

As a manufacturer of fleece garments, we see ourselves as having a responsibility here and are actively seeking solutions to avoid microplastics in the environment. Fleece materials with their fleecy surface are usually made of synthetic fibres such as polyamide or polyester. Fibres and the smallest particles dissolve in the washing machine during washing and end up in the sewage treatment plants. There they are only partially filtered out and can thus end up in the environment. Since synthetic fibres are particularly durable and often only extremely slowly biodegradable, they pose a danger when they land in our oceans via the global water cycle. The problem is that the small particles can be mistaken for food by marine life and enter the food chain.

We make a fibre that is made from 100% sustainable eucalyptus and beech wood and has excellent functional properties. We are already using this innovative fiber in some items of clothing such as shirts and bike jerseys and have now developed a cuddly fleece material together with Lenzing, the Austrian manufacturer of TENCEL® fiber, as the first outdoor outfitter.
The special feature of this material is that micro-particles which enter the global water cycle during washing can be completely biodegraded in seawater.

https://nachhaltigkeitsbericht.vaude.com/gri/news/Holz-fuer-Bekleidung-gegen-Mikroplastik-im-Meer.php