Closing the Loop: Circularity in Outdoor Gear
Everything you need to know about resale, recycling, and repurposing
Updated:
Apr 28, 2026Table of contents
If you’ve ever purchased a pair of pants and later sold them at a secondhand store, you’ve participated in circularity. The term has become a buzzword in the outdoor industry, where brands are working to reduce waste through resale, repair, repurposing, and recycling programs. And for good reason: waste is a major issue—according to the Environmental Protection Agency, nearly 70% of clothing and footwear produced in 2018 ended up in landfills. Despite this, only a handful of brands have made measurable progress toward a more circular supply chain. Here’s how the outdoor industry is approaching circularity—and why it matters.
What is Circularity?
Circularity refers to a closed-loop system where materials are kept in use for as long as possible through resale, repurposing, and recycling—reducing waste and limiting the need for new raw materials. The concept dates back to the 1970s, when the idea of a circular economy emerged as a way to curb industrial consumption, and was later popularized by the 2002 book Cradle to Cradle by Michael Braungart and William McDonough. Patagonia, among others, cites the book as an influence on its own circularity efforts. In outdoor gear, this means designing products with their full lifecycle in mind—from how they’re made to what happens when they’re no longer usable.
Compared to other sustainability efforts, like using recycled materials or eliminating PFAS, circularity is a slower and more complex shift. It requires rethinking not just materials, but entire supply chains and business models. While the outdoor industry has made more progress here than the broader textile sector, there’s still a long way to go. Below, we break down the key components of circularity in outdoor gear, focusing on resale, recycling, and material repurposing. (Repair services are also critical, but we cover those in a separate article.)
Resale Programs: Finding a New Home for Used Gear
While many people are familiar with independent consignment shops, brand-run resale programs are less widely known—but increasingly common. Most allow you to trade in gently used gear for store credit, extending a product’s lifespan by passing it on to another user and keeping it in circulation longer.
Although the concept is widely popular and generally thought of as positive, brand-run resale programs have faced criticism, as some people argue that offering store credit in exchange for used gear perpetuates a linear consumption model of buying more new gear rather than participating in circularity. While it’s true that brands benefit from this model, you can also use that credit to purchase secondhand items through the same program. However you use it, sending gear in for resale helps keep it out of landfills and in use longer. To stay closer to a circular model, we recommend starting your search with used gear on a brand’s resale platform before buying new.
Brands With Notable Gear Resale Programs
It should come as no surprise that Patagonia is a leader in gear resale. Its Worn Wear program started small, inspired by a blog from ambassador Keith Malloy and his wife Lauren, where customers shared stories of well-loved Patagonia gear and the wear that came with it. Those stories sparked interest in swapping gear, and Worn Wear first took shape on eBay and as a traveling repair truck. The dedicated Worn Wear site launched in 2017, and by 2025, it generated $13 million in annual revenue, with 212,000 products resold.
The North Face’s Renewed platform makes it easy to buy and sell used gear, helping extend product lifespans and reduce waste. Customers can trade in clean, wearable items by mail or in-store, which the brand inspects, cleans, and repairs before resale, offering $10–50 in store credit depending on condition. The program also accepts defective gear that can’t be resold and recycles, donates, or upcycles it.
Arc’teryx introduced its ReBird Resale program in 2021 as part of its broader circularity initiative, which also includes repair and upcycling programs. The brand estimates that 65% of a product’s environmental impact comes from production, making resale a key way to extend its lifespan and reduce the overall environmental impact. ReBird accepts used Arc’terx gear in good condition for resale, though it can also repair and renew gear sent to the program as needed. For items sent in for resale, customers receive credit worth 20% of the product’s original price, which can be used toward new or used Arc’teryx gear.
Brands and consignment shops aren’t the only options for buying and selling used gear. Third-party platforms like Geartrade, Rerouted, and Out&Back offer similar services. For example, Geartrade evaluates your gear, provides a free shipping label, and pays you once the item sells on its site. More general platforms like eBay, Poshmark, and Vinted operate in much the same way, though they aren’t limited to outdoor gear.
Recycling: Breaking Gear Down to be Used Again
Gear can only be repaired or resold for so long—eventually, it reaches the end of its usable life. That’s where recycling comes in. At its core, recycling means breaking products down into materials that can be used again.
In practice, though, recycling outdoor gear is complicated. Most products contain blended fabrics—like nylon and elastane—that are difficult or impossible to separate and reuse. Even when materials are recyclable, the process can be energy-intensive and costly, and brands need enough returned products to make it viable at scale (though, typically, the carbon footprint of chemical recycling is still lower than making gear with virgin materials). It’s also important to distinguish between recycled and recyclable: recycled materials come from existing waste, while recyclable products are designed to be broken down and reused later.
Patagonia’s early efforts highlight these challenges. In 2005, the brand launched the Common Threads Garment Recycling Program to collect used synthetic base layers and turn them back into polyester. But participation was low, and without enough volume, the process wasn’t economically feasible. The program faced additional hurdles when its recycling partner, Teijin, relocated from Japan to China, where waste regulations are stricter.
Ultimately, Patagonia shut down the program. Reflecting on the effort, the company noted that even with growing awareness and improved infrastructure, circularity remains difficult to achieve at scale. Today, Patagonia still accepts used gear for recycling, though it provides limited detail on how those materials are processed.
Brands Leading the Way in Outdoor Gear Recycling
Nemo has been pushing the limits of recyclable design. Starting in 2020, the brand worked to simplify its products into mono-material constructions, making them easier to break down at the end of life. That effort led to the 2023 launch of the Forte sleeping bag, part of Nemo’s Endless Promise collection—gear designed to be fully recyclable and largely made from recycled materials. To support the system, Nemo partnered with AmberCycle to streamline returns.“It’s been a pretty monumental shift in how to design and do business,” said Theresa McKenney, the director of sustainability and government affairs at Nemo. While no products have been sent back yet, the brand expects it will take seven years—roughly the lifespan of the gear—before recycling begins at scale.
Rab has taken a different approach, focusing on recycling down. The brand launched the program in the U.K. in 2021, collecting used down products like jackets, pillows, and duvets for recycling. The down is then cleaned, sterilized, and processed before being reused in new products. In 2023, Rab expanded the program across Europe through a retailer partnership, and 254 kg of down has been repurposed to date. After refining the process, Rab developed a toolkit to help other retailers launch similar recycling programs. Since most down currently ends up in landfills, Rab’s program highlights a lesser-known but promising opportunity for circularity.
In 2024, The North Face launched a series of recyclable products called the Circular Design Collection. All of the products in this collection are designed so that they can be returned to the company at the end of their life and recycled into new products. The brand is working to increase the number of products in this collection and aims for 10% of its polyester and nylon to come from textile-to-textile recycled content by 2030.
Repurposing: Using Old Gear in New Ways
Have you ever turned an old shirt into a pillowcase or a grocery bag? That’s repurposing—also known as upcycling—and it’s another path toward circularity. Traditionally, this has fallen on the consumer, but some brands are stepping in with their own solutions.
One common approach is using deadstock—leftover or imperfect fabric from production runs. Rather than sending it to landfills, brands incorporate it into new gear. Cotopaxi is a leader here: its Del Día collection is made entirely from repurposed materials sourced from other companies’ excess fabric (more on that below).
Other brands go a step further by breaking down used products and turning them into something new. This is especially valuable for materials that can’t be recycled, like many blended fabrics. Trew Gear, for example, creates an entire collection of upcycled products made from worn ski apparel. Brands like Big Agnes and Sea to Summit take a more repair-focused approach, salvaging usable parts from old tents to extend the life of other products. These efforts blur the line between recycling and repurposing—but either way, they keep materials in use longer.
Brands Focused on Repurposing Fabrics
Cotopaxi is one of the most recognizable brands using repurposed materials, thanks to its heavy use of deadstock—leftover fabric that would otherwise go to waste. The brand estimates these products have a 30% smaller carbon footprint than those made with new fabric. Deadstock is used across its Del Día and Teca collections, resulting in one-of-a-kind, color-blocked designs. (Because the fabric varies, you won’t know the exact colorway until your order arrives.)
Since 2021, Trew has leaned into upcycling through its Afterlife program. The brand resells used gear and creates new products from returned outerwear, including dog bandanas, bucket hats, and tote bags. Each piece is cleaned, deconstructed, and sewn into a unique item by partner makers. When you send gear back, Trew offers store credit and determines whether the item is best suited for resale, donation, or repurposing.
Through The North Face’s Renewed platform, the brand also repurposes select items that can’t be recycled or donated, transforming them into new products sold through its Remade collection. This lineup includes one-of-a-kind pieces—like down jackets, vests, and chalk bags—crafted from retired The North Face gear.
A handful of brands offer similar initiatives on a smaller scale. Fjallraven’s Samlaren Collection uses leftover fabrics to create limited-run products, while Patagonia’s Worn Wear includes ReCrafted down vests made from deconstructed garments. Additionally, Hestra incorporates hides with minor imperfections—typically unsuitable for most gloves—into its ReMix Mitt and Dakota models, repurposing 70–80% of materials that would otherwise go to waste.
Other Paths to Circularity
Resale, recycling, and repurposing get most of the attention, but they’re not the only ways to keep gear in circulation. Rental programs also play a key role. Renting is a great option if you’re trying a new sport or only need gear for a trip or two. Instead of buying something you’ll rarely use, you can borrow it, return it, and let it continue its life with the next user. This reduces demand for new production—and the waste and emissions that come with it. Most rental services also maintain and repair their gear, helping it stay in use longer across multiple users.
Beyond the ski or bike rentals you’ll find at local shops, some brands now offer their own programs. Gore-Tex runs Outerwear On Demand, a rental service for ski jackets and pants available at more than 20 locations across the U.S. and British Columbia. Rab offers a similar program, allowing customers to rent gear shipped in reusable packaging and return it after use. Each item is cleaned and inspected between rentals to keep it in circulation.
Repair is another essential piece of the puzzle. The longer you keep gear in use, the lower its overall impact. Repair programs make that possible by fixing damage that would otherwise send products to the landfill. (We cover repair services in detail in a separate article.) Now that you’ve got a sense of how circularity works, the next step is putting it into practice. Choosing resale, rental, repair, and recycling options when possible can help reduce your impact. To find gear from brands offering these programs, check out Better Trail’s Sustainability Hub.
Repair programs are also a key component of circularity. Keeping your gear in use longer depends on your ability to repair issues throughout its lifetime, preventing you from throwing it away when damage occurs. Keeping gear in use longer decreases a product’s carbon intensity over time with the added bonus of reducing waste. To learn more about repair programs, read Better Trail’s in-depth analysis of outdoor gear repair programs. Also, keep an eye out for our full repair services directory.
Now that you’ve gotten the rundown on circularity, you have the tools to participate in a more sustainable and circular economy. Supporting and utilizing resale, repair, recycling, and rental programs is a key component of being a more sustainable consumer. To find products from brands offering resale, recycling, and repair services, use Better Trail's sustainability hub to help you search for gear with a lighter footprint.
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