Eco Materials

Many plastics are extremely difficult to recycle and are either incinerated or taken to landfills. This is particularly true with used tires – but even tires can be recycled and serve as an environmentally friendly crude oil alternative.

VAUDE is the first outdoor company in the textile sector to use a chemical process technology that produces polyamide from plastics that are difficult to recycle. In a certified mass balance process, the oil recycled from used tires (pyrolysis oil) is fed into the polyamide production system. For this purpose, the carbon chains contained in used tires are molecularly decomposed and, through chemical transformation, serve as an alternative to crude oil for plastic production.

This product feature is our water repellent Eco Finish. Applied to the surface of your VAUDE product, it causes rainwater to simply bead up on the surface – without the use of environmentally-harmful fluorocarbons (PFC). Eco Finish protects you from the rain and helps keep nature clean.

100% PFC-free thanks to VAUDE Eco Finish

Hemp is a hardy, robust plant that is naturally resilient and fast-growing. It requires little water for cultivation, no fertilizers and no pesticides. This makes it an eco-friendly, renewable resource. Fibers obtained from the stalks are spun to make hard-wearing fabrics. These fabrics are then used to create high-quality, durable products that highlight VAUDE’s commitment to sustainability.

Hemp has a long tradition – according to legend, the first Levi Strauss jeans were made of a robust hemp fabric.The frugal and robust useful hemp plant is very resistant by nature and grows quickly. Hemp grown for fiber is heavily cultivated in China, but increasingly in Europe as well. Hemp needs little water for cultivation, no fertilizers and no pesticides. This makes it an environmentally friendly, renewable raw material.

After the hemp plant has been cut, the stems are left in the field to ripen and dry. The bast fibers are then removed from the stem in a labor-intensive mechanical process so that they can be spun into a yarn. This is finally processed into hard-wearing fabrics that are made into high-quality and durable products.

QMILK? Yes – milk it is! QMILK-felt is made of 20% cow’s milk processed into felt with 80% wool. The result is this unique felt material composite. The milk used to make this felt is sourced from supplies that can no longer be sold due to strict food industry regulations and would otherwise have to be disposed of. Silky, fine protein fibers can be extracted from this valuable natural product in a very energy-efficient process.

From this valuable natural product, fine protein fibers can be extracted during a very energy-efficient process that is suitable for felt production. QMILK fiber processes endow our felt with a soft texture and antibacterial properties when worn directly against the skin. We use QMILK-felt in the straps, back padding and hip belt padding of our backpacks as well as for our Green Shape Core Collection footwear.

Robust, lightweight and quick-drying polyamide yarn made from production surpluses and cutting room scraps otherwise destined for the landfill. These materials are collected, processed and returned into the production cycle which maximizes the utilization of valuable resources in material production and minimizes the amount of new raw materials used for your product.

EcoPaXX® is a bio-based plastic. Normally, plastics are made from petroleum. In order to conserve this finite fossil resource, we searched for an alternative made from renewable raw materials.

70% of EcoPaXX® is made from castor bean oil. The hardy castor oil plant, also known as Palm of Christ, grows without additional irrigation on barren soil that would be unsuitable for growing food. We use the oil, which is pressed from the plant’s beans, to make robust polyamide fiber for the abrasion resistant outer material used on high wear areas of our 3-layer jackets and pants. We also use this robust material for the two backpacks of the Green Shape Core Collection. And throughout the entire collection we use recyclable zips, buckles and hooks made from the plant oil.

Recycled thermoplastic is a plastic that is lightweight, impact resistant, temperature resistant and weatherproof – the ideal properties for use as a stable back panel in our backpacks. In order to conserve resources, we use a recycled version that is made in Germany. Remnant materials from the production of plastic sheets are fed back into the production cycle and converted into durable back panels for the backpacks of our Green Shape Core Collection.

ECONYL® nylon is made from fishing nets and other nylon waste. Abandoned fishing nets that are floating freely in our seas are turned into high quality clothing. Now that’s some positive news for the planet!

Aquafil, our suppliers for ECONYL® polyamide yarn, is collecting nets and other nylon waste from landfills and oceans and recycle them into new, high-quality materials. The preparation of the fishing nets – including cleaning, chemical depolymerization and repolymerization processes – takes place in Europe. Thanks to the ECONYL® Regeneration System, New polyamide yarn is created from pollution – with the same chemical qualities and the same functionality as polyamide made from petroleum. Pollution is cleared while crude oil, energy and emissions are conserved during the manufacturing process of a new product.

Polyamide is a synthetic fiber that is usually made from petroleum. In order to conserve the earth’s oil deposits, we strive to re-use existing polyamide products in an upcycling process when possible. For example, to produce ECONYL®, a yarn made from nylon waste such as, carpet fluff and fishing nets abandoned in the seas (ghostnets) that are collected from the world’s oceans.

ECONYL® yarn offers the same functional properties as conventional nylon fibers, is durable and dries fast. We use an knit made from ECONYL® fiber for sleeve cuffs, neck bands and trouser cuffs in our Green Shape Core Collection apparel. It is also put to use as pockets for our backpacks. As an exceptionally lightweight fabric, we use ECONYL® regenerated polyamide as the primary material for our thermal vests and reversible cape, as well as for the fleece jackets and pants of the Green Shape Core Collection.

Another source of recycling material at VAUDE is used PET bottles. These are collected, cleaned, ground and processed to form granulate that is then melted and spun into yarn.

The benefit of this kind of recycling is twofold – of the 50 million tons of plastics produced in Europe each year, almost half of this is for packaging that ends up in landfill within a year. PET bottles and other packaging make up a large proportion of this. From an ecological standpoint, it makes absolute sense to reduce these mountains of plastic.

The process of making high-quality polyester like this requires 50 % less energy and produces approx. 50 % less CO₂ emissions. Absolutely no fossil fuel petroleum is required.

Terracare® leather is certified and sustainably tanned. It comes from the traditional German leather manufactory, Heine, which uses the highest level of environmentally friendly production processes available, and German bullhide, considered to be among the world’s best in terms of quality.

The production process focuses on the economical use of resources such as water, chemicals and energy as well as wastewater treatment. Self-imposed chemical guidelines are substantially stricter than Germany’s rigorous regulations. Thus Terracare® leather is especially low-pollution. The high level of environmental compatibility has been honoured multiple times by the Leather Working Group. We use this leather for our footwear as well as for the backpack shoulder straps of our Green Shape Core Collection.