Patagonia, a U.S. outdoor clothing manufacturer, has recycling bins for worn-out clothing in its retail stores around the world. But what does Patagonia do with the fleece and jackets collected? The used garments are recycled and reborn as new products. This is accomplished using ECO CIRCLE^™, a closed-loop polyester recycling system introduced by the Teijin Group.

ECO CIRCLE^™ recycles used polyester products into new fibers utilizing a chemical recycling technology pioneered by the Teijin Group. This technology enables discarded products to be repeatedly recycled without compromising quality because they are chemically decomposed to the molecular level, and then purified to form raw materials of the same quality as those made from petroleum.

In addition, ECO CIRCLE^™ reduces waste production and petroleum consumption. It is possible to reduce both energy consumption and CO₂ emissions by approximately 80% as compared to the process of producing raw polyester materials from petroleum.

Since the system was launched in 2002, more than 100 companies worldwide, consisting of mostly apparel and sportswear manufacturers, have utilized ECO CIRCLE^™. The number of members continues to increase, and now includes major global manufacturers.