From Bottles to Backpacks: The Rise of Recycled Outdoor Gear
Here’s what to know about recycled materials, brand transparency, recycled vs. recyclable products, third-party certifications, and more
Updated:
Apr 07, 2026Table of contents
Recycled materials are more common than ever in outdoor gear, but consumer knowledge about them is still playing catch-up. Many brands are now using them at scale—Patagonia, for example, reports that around 70% of its fabrics are made from recycled content—so it's time to get in the know. Here’s a rundown on what recycled materials are made of, where you’ll find them, and why they matter for sustainability.
What is a Recycled Material?
First, let’s define what “recycled” actually means in the context of outdoor gear. The word “recycled” is a bit of a misnomer, given that most recycled materials in outdoor gear are made from waste (otherwise known as feedstock) from other industries, such as fishing nets, carpeting, and plastic water bottles—not used outdoor gear. Textile-to-textile recycling (i.e., recycling one pair of hiking pants into the fabric for a new pair of hiking pants, and what most people think of when they see the word “recycled”) is much less common. That’s because textiles are often made from blended materials that are much harder to recycle than single-polymer materials like plastic water bottles.
These pre- and post-consumer materials are processed using mechanical or chemical recycling technology. When a material is mechanically recycled, it’s shredded and melted into usable material without altering its chemical structure. Unfortunately, the process can only be repeated a finite number of times before a fiber loses its integrity. Chemical recycling, on the other hand, involves breaking down a feedstock into its component molecules to produce a new material. Chemical processing preserves the fiber's integrity indefinitely, but it’s more expensive than mechanical recycling and requires more energy input.
Types of Recycled Materials
Recycled polyester is the most common recycled synthetic fabric in outdoor gear and apparel. While virgin polyester is derived from petroleum, recycled polyester is usually made from plastic bottles (made of polyethylene terephthalate, or PET). Less commonly, it is made from industrial plastic waste and single-polymer polyester textiles. PET is the same polymer used to make virgin polyester, making it an ideal feedstock for producing high-quality fabric that’s nearly identical in chemical composition to its virgin counterpart.
While plastic bottles are the most common feedstock for recycled polyester, some companies are searching for alternative sources. Patagonia, for example, is working on recycling school cafeteria trays into polyester fabric. Ambercycle, a recycling company that works closely with numerous outdoor brands, recently launched a new recycled polyester fabric called Cycora, made entirely from recycled textiles.
Where You’ll Find It: Recycled polyester can be used anywhere that traditional polyester is used in outdoor gear. Examples include softshell jackets, board shorts, fleeces, backpacks, sleeping bags, synthetic insulation, and more. Over the last decade or so, brands have increasingly opted to use recycled polyester in place of its virgin counterpart. For example, 94% of the polyester Patagonia used in its spring 2026 collection was made from recycled content. According to Patagonia, recycled polyester "is now similarly priced to its virgin counterparts," further increasing its popularity.
Why Use Recycled Polyester: Because polyester is widely used in outdoor gear and apparel, replacing virgin polyester with its recycled counterpart can significantly impact the outdoor industry’s energy use, waste, and demand for fossil fuels. Patagonia found that swapping virgin polyester for mechanically recycled polyester reduced carbon emissions associated with fabric production by 50%, while chemically recycled polyester yielded an 18% reduction. Many brands have transitioned from polyester-based products to recycled alternatives to help meet their emissions reduction goals.
In addition to emissions savings, recycling post-consumer polyester can turn single-use products into high-quality materials that can take on a new life in, say, a T-shirt or a pair of board shorts. Still, recycling plastic bottles into fabrics poses its own problems, turning a closed-loop system into a linear one (because recycling blended fabrics is still in its infancy). Luckily, the industry is making progress toward improving textile-to-textile recycling technology to close the loop.
Recycled nylon is another common synthetic fabric used in durable outdoor gear, such as backpacks and ski pants. Virgin nylon, like virgin polyester, is synthesized from petroleum, meaning that producing the fabric relies on fossil fuel extraction. Recycled nylon, however, can be made from a much wider variety of feedstocks than recycled polyester. These pre- and post-consumer feedstocks include everything from scrap fabric and fishing nets to carpeting and industrial plastic.
Where You’ll Find It: Recycled nylon and recycled polyester have some crossover, but nylon is more commonly used when durability is essential. Recycled nylon is often found in ski jackets, ski pants, rain jackets, and down jackets, while recycled polyester is more common in T-shirts and fleece jackets. In outdoor gear, recycled polyester is still much more common than recycled nylon, but some brands have made impressive progress toward transitioning virgin nylon to recycled alternatives: for example, 94% of the nylon used in Patagonia's spring 2026 collection is made from recycled content.
Why Use Recycled Nylon: Unlike recycled polyester, which is often made from recyclable plastic bottles, recycled nylon feedstocks usually include materials that wouldn’t otherwise be recycled, such as fishing nets and carpeting. Recycling these waste materials into fabric for a shell jacket, for example, can keep them out of the landfill and extend their usable life. Additionally, Patagonia cites that its NetPlus nylon, made via chemical recycling, has a 19% lower carbon footprint per kilogram than virgin nylon.
Down is the soft, insulating layer of plumage under the protective exterior feathers of a goose or duck. While virgin down is often sourced as a byproduct of poultry production, recycled down is derived from post-consumer down products, including duvets, pillows, sleeping bags, and cushions. To recycle down, companies sort and grade the down—categorizing it based on cleanliness, quality, and loft. They then sterilize it, treat it with hydrophobic chemicals, and use it to fill new products.
Where You’ll Find It: Like its virgin counterpart, recycled down is used to insulate gear such as sleeping bags, puffy jackets, booties, and more. It’s much less common than recycled polyester or nylon, but several companies, including Rab, The North Face, La Sportiva, and Patagonia, use the material to make meaningful waste reductions. In 2024 (the most recent available data), over 60% of the down Rab purchased came from recycled sources, while La Sportiva purchased only recycled down that year.
Why Use Recycled Down: Down has historically gone to the landfill after a single use in a duvet, pillow, sleeping bag, or jacket. Recycling down can give the material another use in outdoor products, rather than becoming waste. As of 2025, Rab has repurposed over 550 pounds of down through its recycling program. Additionally, Patagonia reported that using recycled down resulted in a 33% reduction in carbon emissions per kilogram of insulation compared to virgin goose down.
While recycled polyester, nylon, and down are the most common recycled materials used in outdoor gear, some companies have gone above and beyond to replace other virgin materials with recycled ones. These materials include recycled wool, cotton, cashmere, spandex, and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), which are often made from post-consumer textiles.
As new recycling technologies arise, many outdoor brands are working to integrate an increasing share of recycled materials into their products. As textile-to-textile recycling becomes more common, these less commonly recycled materials will likely be used more frequently in the future.
Recycled wool, for example, makes up a notable share of Patagonia’s product line. In 2025 (the most recent available data), 80% of its wool came from recycled sources. Other brands, such as Smartwool, are also experimenting with using recycled wool in select products. The company’s Second Cut socks are made with about 50% recycled wool sourced from socks returned to Smartwool for recycling.
An Imperfect Solution
Not all products made with recycled materials are created equal, and some fabrics and materials offer greater reductions in environmental impact than others. For instance, recycling soda bottles into shell jackets addresses waste and petroleum dependence, but other sustainability questions arise. Recycled polyester is usually made by melting the plastic bottles into PET, which can then be used in textiles. But using a feedstock—or input—like soda bottles can mean removing a recyclable material from a supply chain where it can be recycled multiple times into one where it can only be recycled once, since blended materials (like polyester-cotton blends) are difficult to recycle. A plastic bottle transformed into a T-shirt is likely to end up in the landfill, just further down the line. This adds complexity to the recycled material production chain and urgency to create materials that are both recycled and recyclable. Innovative companies like Ambercycle are working to improve the textile-to-textile recycling process, but the scale of efforts like these remain limited.
How to Find Gear with Recycled Materials
Finding gear that contains recycled materials is simple on our website—look for the green or yellow checkmark under the recycled materials icon in a gear review to confirm whether a product uses recycled fabrics. If you want to know the exact recycled content of a product, go to the product’s sustainability report in our sustainability hub. Additionally, using BetterTrail’s “recycled materials” search function in the sustainability hub is an excellent starting point for finding recycled products.
You can also use “recycled materials” search functions on several major retailer websites, including REI Co-op’s “Sustainability” dropdown filters and Backcountry’s “Responsibility” dropdown filters. Some brands, including Rab and Patagonia, also have specialized sustainability search functions on their websites, allowing you to sort by filters like “greater than 75% recycled materials” or “NetPlus recycled nylon.”
Brands Leading the Recycling Revolution
As the use of recycled materials has become increasingly common in the outdoor industry, a handful of companies are blazing a trail for others to follow. Here are some brands leading the industry's transition toward low-impact materials.
Patagonia is leading the charge toward integrating recycled fabrics into its line, with a whopping 94% of the polyester and nylon used in its spring 2026 collection made from recycled materials Additionally, in fall 2025 (the most recent available data) Patagonia used 152,000 pounds of recycled down in its products, reducing its carbon emissions by 33% compared to if it had used virgin down.
Patagonia and California-based organization Bureo also developed NetPlus, a program that turns discarded fishing nets into nylon. In spring 2026, Patagonia used 250 metric tons of nets in its line, down from over 300 metric tons in 2025. Finally, Patagonia uses recycled materials that few other brands do, including spandex, cashmere, and TPU.
Nemo’s Endless Promise Collection features sleeping bags and backpacks made with recycled materials engineered for total recyclability. Most textiles can’t be recycled because they use blended fabrics, and Nemo engineered a line of single-polymer fabrics—it calls them “Cero”—that can be broken down and recycled at the end of the product’s life. Most importantly, Nemo takes responsibility for these end-of-life products by sending them to partner organizations for recycling. As of 2024—the most recent available data—20% of Nemo products are fully recyclable.
Rab’s impressive commitment to product transparency is best showcased by its Material Facts program, which gives every Rab product from its fall/winter 2024 line onwards a label that breaks down its recycled content. This step toward transparency provides consumers with another tool for understanding the products’ environmental impact. Rab also launched a down recycling program in the United Kingdom in 2021 that collects and recycles down jackets, sleeping bags, pillows, and duvets into jacket and sleeping bag fillings. For extra assurance, all of Rab’s recycled down is certified to the Global Recycled Standard.
Using around 95% recycled polyester and nylon in 2025 (the most recent available data), Norrona has made impressive progress in its transition to low-impact materials. The company’s recycled polyester is sourced from plastic soda bottles, while its recycled nylon is made from post-consumer chemically-recycled sources such as fishing nets, carpet, and some textiles. Additionally, since 2020, all of Norrona Econyl backpacks have been made with 100% recycled fabric, and most of its ski outerwear is made with recycled nylon.
At the end of 2024 (the last year this data was published), The North Face used more than 95% recycled polyester and 80% recycled nylon fabric in its products, making the company a leader in the use of recycled synthetic materials. The North Face has also launched a limited Circular Design program featuring recyclable products. As of spring 2026, the program is small and primarily consists of casual clothing. The brand plans to source 10% of its fabrics from textile-to-textile recycled content by 2030.
In 2020, Cotopaxi launched its “3 R’s” program to reduce the environmental impact of its production. This program focuses on manufacturing products from recycled, repurposed, or responsibly sourced materials. In 2023, Cotopaxi achieved its goal of making all products with recycled materials, repurposed deadstock (also known as leftover fabrics), or certified “responsible” materials. Its deadstock reuse program is a unique way of meeting its sustainability goals by giving purpose to fabrics that would otherwise be sent to the landfill.
Leading Recycled Products
While an increasing share of outdoor gear is made with recycled materials, some products stand out for their unique and extensive use of recycled fabrics and fills. Here are four standouts.
Nemo Resolve 15L Endless Promise Technical Active Daypack: This pack is made with a fully recycled—and recyclable—Cero PET (polyethylene terephthalate) fabric. The Resolve is also cushioned with Nemo’s proprietary CCubed foam, which is both recycled and recyclable as well. Nemo designed this pack to be returned for “total recycling” at the end of its life. Because blended materials typically cannot be recycled, Nemo constructed the Resolve with mono-polymer materials, meaning only one molecule type is used in each piece of fabric.
Rab Microlight Alpine Down Jacket: The Microlight Alpine Down Jacket is a lightweight puffy that’s made with an impressive profile of recycled materials. Rather than settling for using only a recycled shell material or a recycled fill, Rab went above and beyond by using both in this down jacket. In total, the Microlight Alpine features 90% recycled content. Its shell fabric is recycled 30-denier Nylon Pertex Quantum, and the jacket is filled with recycled 700-fill power down with a Nikwax hydrophobic finish.
Patagonia Granite Crest Rain Jacket: The 3-layer Granite Crest is constructed with 100% post-consumer recycled nylon ripstop material. The Bureo NetPlus nylon used in this jacket is derived from recycled fishing nets, the result of a program that helps reduce ocean pollution and its harm to marine animals. (According to Patagonia, “Scientists estimate more than 650,000 marine animals are killed or seriously injured every year after being trapped in fishing gear.”) By transforming nets into nylon, materials that would have otherwise been sent to the landfill after clean-up are turned into rain jackets like the Granite Crest as well as a variety of other Patagonia products. Similar to NetPlus, Patagonia also uses OceanCycle-certified recycled polyester fabrics in several of its products. OceanCycle fabrics are derived from plastic bottles reclaimed from ocean pollution.
Recycled Claims Standard and Global Recycled Standard
We know that recycled fabric is used in various outdoor gear—but how do you parse through company claims about their products’ recycled content? We prefer that brands disclose the exact recycled content of their materials rather than make general statements like “made with recycled materials,” since a vague statement like this one can mean that a product contains just 1% recycled content. On most brands’ websites, recycled content specifications are buried beneath dropdown menus with titles like “Specifications” or “Materials.” Use the recycled materials filter in the hub, or the recycled materials logo in our gear guide sustainability section to find this information seamlessly.
Some outdoor gear brands use third-party certifications to ensure their recycled materials meet a minimum recycled-content threshold. One such entity is the Textile Exchange, a nonprofit body that certifies recycled materials to its standards to assure transparency to outdoor gear consumers. It houses the Recycled Claims Standard (RCS) and Global Recycled Standard (GRS) for recycled fabrics. Both standards certify the amount of recycled content in a recycled fiber. The RCS is less rigorous at 5% recycled content, while the GRS requires a minimum of 50% recycled content and additional social and environmental benchmarks.
For both certifications, pre- and post-consumer recycled feedstocks are allowed. Auditors also check the chain of custody at every point (the Content Claim Standard) in the production process to establish that the recycled standards, and, for the GRS, social standards are met along the way. Notably, these standards are for the textiles themselves. A jacket, for example, could be made with GRS-certified polyester, but the piece’s zippers and waterproof coating and insulation might not be. It’s up to the retailer to properly disclose that information. To guarantee accountability, RCS and GRS claims require an annual audit, or “scope certificate,” which verifies that every step in the production process continues to meet requirements.
What is the Difference Between Recycled and Recyclable?
As an increasing number of recycled products reach the market, there has been a growing impetus for companies to embrace circularity by offering both recycled and recyclable products. This can lead to confusion over recycled versus recyclable materials. Here’s how they differ: Recycled materials are made by turning pre- or post-consumer waste into new materials through chemical or mechanical recycling. Recyclable materials, on the other hand, can be broken down at the end of life into usable parts—that is, they can be used again if properly disposed of.
A major limitation of textile recycling is that most blended fabrics—such as nylon/spandex blends—cannot be easily recycled. A handful of outdoor brands and their recycling partners are working to make recycled and recyclable products more readily available to consumers. For example, several products in Nemo’s Endless Promise collection are made from recycled materials that are also fully recyclable. This is possible due to Nemo’s innovation of single-polymer materials that can be broken down at the end of life. When searching for new gear, ensure you know if the product you are considering is recycled, recyclable, or both.
Why Recycled Gear is the Future
If you need new gear, purchasing products made with recycled materials rather than virgin ones is generally a more sustainable choice. Because petroleum is the feedstock for so many common synthetic materials—think polyester, nylon, and spandex—using recycled materials decreases reliance on fossil fuels. Other recycled materials, such as down and wool, are also less carbon-intensive than their virgin counterparts. Designing outdoor gear with recycled materials can also divert waste from landfills, giving otherwise useless materials a new life. Luckily for you—and the earth—more and more outdoor brands are increasing the share of recycled content in their products, making it easier than ever to find high-quality gear with a lower environmental impact.
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