Patagonia

We use polyurethane in waterproof garments, equipment and some stretch yarns, as well as in adhesives and coatings.

Polyurethanes are found in several of our products. They make up things such as our adhesives, waterproof and water-resistant coatings and films, spandex and foams. To avoid the use of PVC in our equipment and luggage lines due to its relatively high environmental impact, we have chosen to use polyurethane instead. The path to an eco-friendly polyurethane is much clearer and already underway. We are constantly striving to improve our manufacturing process and the materials that go into making our products in a way that’s better for the environment.

We use polyurethane. It’s found in waterproof products like the Torrentshell, equipment like our Black Hole® bags and in the stretch yarns used in our Pack Out Tights. The stretch fibers and waterproof films we use are common, but we use them in different combinations than others in the industry in order to reduce our impact.

Our goal is to use more recycled stretch yarns and bio-based polyurethanes in our products. This has the potential to reduce our CO2 emissions because these employ recycling processes that use former waste material (instead of virgin), and plant-based feedstocks.