Patagonia, Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, The North Face, Hanesbrands and Polartec were among the brands recognized as part of Unifi’s inaugural REPREVE Champions of Sustainability awards.

The program commemorates its recent milestone of recycling 10 billion bottles.

“Unifi created the REPREVE Champions of Sustainability awards to recognize our brand and textile partners that have achieved plastic bottle recycling milestones as a result of their use of REPREVE performance fibers,” said Kevin Hall, Unifi Chairman & CEO. “We are proud to honor companies that exemplify leadership in sustainability, and are among those that have contributed to the more than 10 billion bottles that Unifi has recycled so far.  We look forward to recognizing even more companies in the future as we work toward our goal of recycling 30 billion bottles by 2022.”

REPREVE Champions of Sustainability will be awarded to 25 brand and retail partners that have each used the equivalent of 10 million or more bottles, and 15 textile partners that have each used the equivalent of 50 million or more bottles, through the use of REPREVE fiber. A partial list of award recipients can be found by visiting REPREVE.com/champions.

“More than 70 percent of plastic bottles in the United States end up in a landfill,” Hall explained. “By creating these awards, we hope to inspire designers, customers and consumers to continue to invest in sustainability, and that together, we can make everyday life better by transforming recycled plastic bottles into the products consumers use every day.”

An added spotlight on sustainability

In addition to the bottle awards, Unifi is also introducing four special category awards:

  • REPREVE Partners in Innovation recognizes companies using REPREVE in a way that’s unique to the market.
  • REPREVE Circular Economy recognizes companies demonstrating best-in-class use of the closed loop concept, which aims to eliminate waste throughout the product life cycle.
  • REPREVE Newcomer recognizes key companies that started using REPREVE in the past year.
  • REPREVE All-In recognizes companies that integrated REPREVE into their entire product line from the beginning of the partnership.

Even the awards are recycled

To craft the awards, Unifi partnered with The Olio, a nonprofit organization based in Winston-Salem, N.C. that focuses on teaching and empowerment through entrepreneurship, glassblowing, art and sustainable solutions. Each custom crafted award is blown by hand from glass recycled from local restaurants and bars, and sits on a base made from recycled aluminum and reclaimed wood.