Sustainability

Striving for greater sustainability: ODLO’s guiding principles

ODLO has a stated objective of using 100% sustainable fabrics by 2030. Ambitious, yes, but a path we must take if we are to balance the needs of everyday athletes and the planet.

AT 26.09.2021 

As an athletic apparel brand, material use is our greatest sustainability challenge and one shared by everyone in the outdoor community. Finding balance will mean pushing boundaries, in sport and in design, to develop a considered approach. To achieve our stated objective, we’ve created ten guiding principles specific to material use. What follows are details of how we plan to hit our targets.


Long lasting
We create long-lasting products and take great care to select quality materials. This is the foundation for durability for one simple reason: the longer you can use a garment, the more sustainable it becomes.


Recycling
Most materials used in our products are synthetic. To reduce the impact of these materials we follow a step by step approach of replacing virgin materials (such as polyester) with recycled alternatives (e.g. from post-consumer PET bottles). We only work with reliable and certified sources, such as Global Recycled Standard (GRS).


Preferred manmade cellulosic fibres
Some ODLO products come from trees. When using manmade cellulosic fibres like TENCEL™ Lyocell, we choose responsible partners such as Lenzing, where the entire production chain is transparent and environmentally friendly. By doing this, we limit our dependency on forests and water pollution typically associated with conventional cellulosic fibres.


Animal welfare
We mainly use two materials that come from animal sourcing: wool and down. We’ are committed to ensuring that these natural products are obtained using fair production methods. Practices such as “mulesing” are strictly forbidden when sourcing wool. The down used is a by-product of the meat production industry and is guaranteed not to involve live plucking or force-feeding.


Collaboration
When it comes to materials, finding the right partners is crucial. We only work with likeminded stakeholders who share our commitment to sustainability.


Sustainable dyeing and finishing processes
Dyeing uses most of the water and energy when producing fabric. To limit water and energy use, we use “Dry Dye” (dying without water, but with supercritical fluid CO2), as well as dope dye (spin dye) where possible. In 2020, ODLO introduced the sustainable anti-odour finish, Zeroscent. For our F-DRY range we use miDori®bioWick, a bio based wicking finish. 

Local to local
The closer, the better. We try to source materials from regions close to the manufacturing site in order to reduce carbon emissions from unnecessary transportation.


Oekotex Standard 100
We only work with material suppliers who are Ökotex and/or bluesign-certified, have their own certified testing facilities or work very closely with an independent laboratory. Not only the materials, but also the entire garments of the company’s underwear and base layer ranges are certified with Oekotex Standard 100.


PFC Free (PFOA/PFOS FREE)
In the past, waterproof garments required using non-sustainable materials, such as PFC or PFA., They possess unique water and fat rejecting properties, and they are frequently found in DWR (Durable Water Resistance) treatments used on outdoor clothing. Right now, 90% of ODLO products with a DWR finish are treated using a fluorocarbon-free product and we are on the way to achieve 100% PFC- free for all our water-repellent products.


PVC & NICKEL Free
ODLO does not use PVC neither nickel in our products.

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