In an ongoing journey to sustainability, the consumer business of Gore’s Fabric Division brings to market 2-layer Gore-Tex laminates with Bionic textile made from plastic waste collected from coastal environments. Gore’s collaboration with Bionic, established in 2020, supports a mission of reducing ocean plastic through community engagement by investing in plastic recovery and sorting in a facility in Cóbano, Costa Rica. Sorted plastic waste is turned into materials used in the textile component of the two new laminates. 

“The new Gore-Tex laminates with recycled Bionic textile are a testament to how we can use meaningful scientific innovation to seek bold solutions for some of the most complex problems facing our industry,” said Achim Loeffler, consumer fabrics business leader at Gore. “Our collaboration with Bionic and Patagonia will enable us to turn garbage into good.”

The Patagonia products, slated for F/W ‘23, are constructed with Gore’s new ePE membrane and 100 percent recycled Bionic polyester textile made from 50 percent plastic waste collected from Bionic’s operations in coastal communities and 50 percent from municipal collection. Product is Global Recycled Standard (GRS) certified.  

Together with the Cóbano community, Gore and Bionic have collaborated to set up local waste management systems to repurpose plastic waste; recycling stations along roads and beaches; organized community beach cleanup events and community outreach; and centralized sorting, bailing and flaking facility and collection routes for local businesses, schools and other institutions.