Repreve, the global leader in recycled performance fibers, will make its presence known in the parking lot at the Rose Bowl Jan. 1 in a pop-up pavilion that will take visitors through the process that turns plastic bottles into fiber.
The Rose Bowl, host of an NCAA football game, this year is the site of the championship semifinal between the University of Alabama and the University of Michigan. Fan-favorite apparel also made of Repreve will be featured in the pavilion which is designed to teach visitors the merits of bottle-to-yarn recycling. To date, some 35 billion post-consumer plastic bottles have been transformed into yarn.
The mobile tour will highlight how recycled waste is sourced, how resin is derived from that product which is chopped, ground, washed, melted and reformulated into high-quality Repreve resin. That resin is melted into a liquid polymer and extruded through a spinneret. It is the continuous filaments that form Repreve fiber, which is then fashioned into yarn through spinning and air-jet texturing. Yarn is then shipped to customers who weave it into sustainable everyday products and apparel.
Repreve was developed to surpass the performance of virgin fiber and can replace the virgin equivalent without any impact on aesthetic or functional properties. While the parent company, Unifi, was founded in 1971, Repreve was only developed in 2007—quite by accident when a machine malfunctioned and plant managers had to find a use for what spewed forth. Other brands that use Repreve in their product lines include HOKA, TEVA, Beyond Yoga, EleVen by Venus Williams, Fig clothing, Fitbit, EcoGear, Guess, GoldToe, Hard Rock, Haggar, Jockey, Lands’ End and Patagonia.
Related Stories
Repreve, which is popular among top makers of activewear and sportswear, is friendly to the environment. It reduces gas emissions by up to 42 percent compared to virgin filament yarn, and by 60 percent when compared to virgin staple fiber. It uses 66 percent less fossil fuels than virgin filament yarn, and 76 percent less than virgin staple fiber. It also requires a great deal less water to make then virgin filament yarn, according to a July 2023 LCA study.
Characteristics of Repreve that give it its enhanced performance ability include durability, flexibility, stretch and strength, superior moisture wicking and thermal regulation, plus it has a wrinkle resistant texture that mimics the look and feel of natural fibers.