Wetsuits From Wetsuits

There are more than 500,000 surfers in the United Kingdom who, on average, will replace their wetsuits once every two years. The result of this? The equivalent of more than thirty London double decker buses being discarded every year. Three hundred and eighty tonnes of non-biodegradable chemical-based waste, every single year.

As committed surfers, we all have a stack of old suits laying around somewhere. Whilst there are initiatives that exist around the down-cycling of old wetsuits, yoga mats and beer koozies fall short of producing a real solution.

“There have been some great advances in eco wetsuits and the search for alternatives to petroleum based neoprene, but the real elephant in the room for the watersports industry is what to do with a wetsuit at the end of its functional life. It’s a massive, global problem that we need to address; in this day and age there has to be a solution, and this is what we’re committed to finding. In the UK alone, surfers are replacing their suits on average every two years, with no real idea what to do with their old suits.” Tom Kay, Finisterre founder.

To address this, Finisterre has recruited Jenny Banks, our full-time Wetsuit Recycler. Supported by Exeter University, and with the potential to bring positive change on a massive scale; the ultimate aim is to make wetsuits from wetsuits.

Working within the Finisterre team and under the guidance of leading materials Professor Oana Ghita, Jenny’s aim is to develop a fully recycled and recyclable wetsuit, investigating options for materials, manufacturing and recycling processes, carrying out in-depth materials and industry analysis, developing new testing techniques and investigating remanufacturing and circular economy concepts. 

 

Find out more about our Wetsuit Recycler, Jenny Banks here.

Please hold onto any old wetsuits you might have lying around. Once the programme is up and running we'll be calling out for wetsuit contributions.

#WetsuitsFromWetsuits