VAUDE Eco Materials

The best for your product: performance × responsibility

VAUDE has made a commitment to using the best (most environmentally friendly) technologies, to eliminating the use of controversial materials, and to ensure maximum traceability of all materials to their origin. VAUDE materials combine top quality with technical performance and ecological responsibility.
Better for you, better for the planet!

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.

Mass Balance Recycling
100% PFC-free thanks to VAUDE Eco Finish

We need waterproofing: Textile surfaces are waterproofed with durable water repellency to repel water and dirt. Without this surface treatment, the outer fabric would absorb rainwater and feel damp, even if the product had a waterproof membrane.

Vaude Eco Finish steps
Climate neutral, legendary waterproofness

VAUDE makes an important part of its Bag Collection with climate neutral manufacturing in Obereisenbach. Our legendary bike bags, for example, belong to this group. The entire Made in Germany Collection has been fully PVC-free for years.

 

Completely PVC-free starting Summer 2019

Since the Summer Collection 2017, all special models (for example, those we manufacture here for major customers) have been PVC-free. The entire Mountain Backpack Collection are also 100 % PVC-free. And finally, our entire Packs ‘n Bags Collection — and all of our travel bags — will also be PVC-free starting with the Summer 2019 Collection.

Vaude PVC Free steps
Vaude Recycled Polyester

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.

Vaude first class hemp steps

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.

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.

QMILK Felt Steps
Reduce waste, save fossil resources vaude

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.

Eco Paxx Vaude
Eco paxx
Vaude EcoPaxx

The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) regulates ecological and social criteria throughout the entire production process. As a renewable natural fiber, it is cultivated without chemical fertilizers, without pesticides, and with lower water consumption than conventional methods. Another crucial environmental bonus: the fabric isn’t dyed, but rather printed on one side in Germany – saving large quantities of water. We use Durable Organic Cotton in our Green Shape Core Collection’s 3-layer jackets and vests as well as for the primary material of the two backpacks.

Durable Organic Cotton steps
Recycled Thermoplastic

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.

Vaude Recycled fishnets
Vaude Recycled fishnets

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.

Reduce waste econyl vaude

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. 

PET Bottles Vaude

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.