Polyurethane

Polyurethanes are found in several of Patagonia's products. They make up things such as the adhesives, waterproof and water-resistant coatings and films, spandex and foams. To avoid the use of PVC in their equipment and luggage lines due to its relatively high environmental impact, they have chosen to use polyurethane instead. The path to an eco-friendly polyurethane is much clearer and already underway. Patagonia is constantly striving to improve their manufacturing process and the materials that go into making their products in a way that’s better for the environment.

Patagonia uses polyurethane. It’s found in waterproof products like the Torrentshell, equipment like the Black Hole® bags and in the stretch yarns used in the Pack Out Tights. The stretch fibers and waterproof films they use are common, but we use them in different combinations than others in the industry in order to reduce our impact.

Patagonia's goal is to use more recycled stretch yarns and bio-based polyurethanes in their products. This has the potential to reduce their CO2emissions because these employ recycling processes that use former waste material (instead of virgin), and plant-based feedstocks.