Following the launch of our Ecolast™ swimwear, made also from ocean waste, we’re delighted to announce we’ve partnered with Healthy Seas. Healthy Seas is a not-for-profit initiative with a mission to protect our oceans and marine life by collecting abandoned fishing nets that are then transformed by Aquafil into ECONYL® yarn to create sustainable products.
Working with divers, schools, NGOs and governments, Healthy Seas is responsible for the retrieval of ghost fishing nets, raising awareness of the environmental damage these nets cause. It’s estimated 640,000 tons of fishing equipment is discarded in our oceans every year, each taking hundreds of years to decompose. The Healthy Seas initiative also collaborates with fishermen, fish farms and local communities to prevent these nets ending up in the sea by helping to source responsible solutions.
The fishing nets recovered by Healthy Seas are cleaned of foreign materials and prepared for regeneration by Aquafil. The nylon in these nets is then turned into a raw material (with other debris such as industrial waste and carpet) and transformed into ECONYL® yarn by Aquafil. Along with our Ecolast™ swimwear, ECONYL® yarn can be used to create new products like underwear, socks and carpet. Since the ‘Healthy Seas, a Journey from Waste to Wear’ initiative was launched in 2013, divers and fishermen have collected over 375,000 kilograms of fishing nets.
At Zoggs, we’re committed to doing what we can to protect our oceans and have cleaner seas. We’ll be donating 10% of our Ecolast™ swimwear profits to the Healthy Seas initiative. Our partnership will also include working together on other initiatives such as running beach cleans, supporting conservation events and even joining Healthy Seas on some of their dives.
As a brand, it’s our responsibility to help tackle environmental issues such as the health of our oceans. We’re passionate about making a difference and look forward to working in partnership with Healthy Seas to protect our world for the future.
Mark Hammersley, CEO at Zoggs International
It is wonderful to see more and more lifestyle companies actively caring for the Ocean. We couldn’t be prouder to observe this growing movement and to welcome Zoggs among our list of partners. Together, we can do so much more!
Veronika Mikos, Project Coordinator at Healthy Seas
-----------------------ENDS-----------------------
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Zoggs
Zoggs has been knocking out industry firsts since we launched 25 years ago. Being Aussie means we pretty much love everything to do with the water. We think the best way to fall in love with swimming is to make sure you have fun, whether you’re a beachgoer, learner or lane swimmer. Available in over 50 countries, our swimwear, goggles, learning aids and training accessories are made to stand up to the Australian sun, sea and swimming pools. Because if they make the grade in Australia, we’re pretty sure they’ll do the same anywhere else in the world! You’ll find our products for sale online, on the high street and in more sports & leisure centres than you can take a dip at.
Zoggs launched its Ecolast™ swimwear collection in July 2018 and it will form 40% of their swimwear collection from January 2019. Ecolast™ is made using 78% ECONYL® yarn and 22% LYCRA® XTRA LIFE™ resulting in a soft, comfortable, high performance swimwear fabric. Put through its paces in real life conditions, it outperformed competitors’ fabrics proving to be 15 times more resilient to chlorine than standard swimwear fabrics.
https://www.zoggs.com/
https://www.zoggs.com/ecolast
For further information, please contact: charly.dove@zoggs.com (07976 982529)
About Healthy Seas
The mission of 'Healthy Seas, a Journey from Waste to Wear' initiative is to remove waste, in particular fishing nets, from the seas for the purpose of creating healthier seas. The recovered fishing nets will be transformed and regenerated by Aquafil into ECONYL®, a yarn used to create new products such as swimwear. Healthy Seas is committed to marine protection and aims for sustainability, in both an environmental and an economic sense.
http://healthyseas.org/
About ECONYL®
ECONYL® regenerated nylon turns waste problems into fashion and interior solutions. It’s made by recovering nylon waste from around the world. Through the Healthy Seas initiative, volunteer divers collect ‘ghost’ fishing nets that have been lost or left at sea in Europe. Nets like this make up 10% of global ocean waste and pose a threat to all kinds of ocean wildlife. The raw materials also include fishing nets from the aquaculture sector, fabric scraps from industrial mills and carpets that would otherwise go to landfill. The nylon waste is brought to Aquafil’s factory in Slovenia for transformation into ECONYL® regenerated nylon for the fashion and interior industries.
http://www.econyl.com/
