Rip Curl expands wetsuit recycling to US, Europe

SURFERS not only in Australia but now in the United States and Europe can reduce their environmental footprint with the expansion of Rip Curl’s Recycle Your Wetsuit program.

The Torquay-headquartred company’s program, in partnership with TerraCycle, launched in Australia last year, offering environmentally-conscious surfers the opportunity to recycle any surfing wetsuit at participating stores across Australia.

As of this month, Recycle Your Wetsuit will be rolled out in the US as well as France, Portugal and Spain, in a global effort to reduce the impact of wetsuit waste.

To help reduce the amount of wetsuit rubber going into landfill each year, Rip Curl will be repurposing all recycled rubber in products such as the safety attenuation layer of soft fall matting used at playgrounds and outdoor gyms.

“Since the program launched, we are pleased to have seen over 1,600 Australian customers dedicating time and effort to return their surfing wetsuits for recycling,” Rip Curl environmental, social and governance manager Shasta O’Loughlin said.

“We’re proud to be able to extend this program to our US, France, Spain and Portugal customers, helping to provide them with an avenue to do their bit for the environment.

“We hope every touchpoint has a wider impact by educating our customers to consider the end-of-life impact of their purchase. We’re so stoked to be diverting wetsuits from landfill and to good use.

“We are incredibly proud of our partnership with TerraCycle, as a leader in the recycling space.

“With some of our core values at Rip Curl being community and environment, the Recycle Your Wetsuit program is extremely important to us.

“We have seen a significant uptake of the program on our home soil and look forward to the response internationally.”

TerraCycle’s Australia and New Zealand general manager Jean Bailliard said most surfing wetsuits were made from synthetic rubber; a complex material not accepted in kerbside recycling.

“However, thanks to the Rip Curl Recycle Your Wetsuit program, Australians have saved nearly 2.5 tonnes of old wetsuits from landfills in little over a year.

“As a waste stream that is used all over the world, we couldn’t be more excited to work with Rip Curl to expand this initiative to even more markets.”

Globally, TerraCycle has recycled more than 7 billion units and raised more than $44 million for charities.

The company is a social enterprise founded on the concept of “Eliminating the Idea of Waste”, aligning with the Rip Curl values of protecting the planet.

Select Rip Curl stores will accept any surf branded wetsuit, not including booties, gloves, hoods or heavy diving dry suits.

Customers can drop off their used surfing wetsuits in store at no cost.

If proximity is an issue, the selected stores are also accepting wetsuits via post.

For more information and instructions, head to ripcurl.com/au/explore/recycle-your-wetsuit.html