Recycled Bottles Turn into New Line of Levi's Jeans

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October 18, 2012

The Levi’s brand has introduced a new collection of denim incorporating post-consumer waste, specifically recycled plastic bottles and food trays.

Each Levi’s Waste Less product will include a minimum of 20 percent post-consumer recycled content, or, on average, eight to 12 20-ounce bottles per jean. The Waste Less products, which will be available for both men and women as part of the Levi’s Spring 2013 collection and will be available in Levi’s stores globally and on Levi.com in January.

“From the beginning, we have designed our products with purpose and intent. By adding value to waste, we hope to change the way people think about recycling, ultimately incentivizing them to do more of it,” said James Curleigh, global president of the Levi’s brand. “This collection proves that you don’t have to sacrifice quality, comfort or style to give an end a new beginning.”

The Spring 2013 Levi’s Waste Less collection will utilize more than 3.5 million recycled bottles. Through the company’s partners, PET plastic -- or polyethylene terephthalate materials, including brown beer bottles, green soda bottles, clear water bottles and black food trays -- are collected through municipal recycling programs across the United States. The bottles and food trays are sorted by color, crushed into flakes, and made into a polyester fiber.

Next, the polyester fiber is blended with cotton fiber, which is finally woven with traditional cotton yarn by Cone Denim. The color of the bottles used adds a beautiful undertone to the denim fabric creating a unique finish in the final product, Levi’s reported.

“With this collection, we’re doing our own small part by taking waste and making something new from it,” added Curleigh. “We don’t just want to reduce our impact on the environment, we want to leave it better than we found it. We are committed to making products in ways that are good for people and better for our planet.”

Read These Related Articles:

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• Starbucks Reveals Sustainability Progress and Challenges
• Publix Reaches Two Billion Paper and Plastic Bags Saved

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