Patagonia, Bolder Industries bring new life to old wetsuits

VENTURA, Calif.—Circularity is growing for end-of-life tires, but what about EOL wetsuits?

Increasingly, environmentally conscious companies like Patagonia, which makes surf gear and other outdoor recreational products, are moving away from neoprene-based wetsuits to more sustainable materials, including bio-based rubbers and recovered carbon blacks.

As such, Patagonia said June 13 it will partner with Boulder, Colo.-based Bolder Industries Inc., a producer of rCB (BolderBlack) and rCB oil (BolderOil) via tire pyrolysis and a suite of other processes.

The plan is for Patagonia to send its collected, end-of-life Yulex-brand wetsuits—comprised of bio-based, natural rubber—to Bolder, which will use its patented pyrolysis methods to break down the wetsuits.

The resulting rCB from the wetsuits will be used to dye future Yulex products, specifically the nylon lining. Patagonia said that CB accounts for between 15 and 20 percent of the wetsuits' rubber foam.

"We hope that this breakthrough in recycling and circularity will go well beyond the surf industry and will eventually be implemented across countless product sectors," said Hub Hubbard, Patagonia surf product line manager. "We have successfully piloted this program using reclaimed carbon black from retired Yulex wetsuits as a main component in (new) wetsuits ... and that cycle can repeat indefinitely."

Hubbard said other brands have offered wetsuit collections for recycling, but the wetsuits have "so far only been broken down mechanically (not at the molecular level, which breaks the thermoset crosslinks) into things like yoga mats and playground material."

Patagonia initially partnered with the Chandler, Ariz.-based Yulex Corp. in 2008 to develop a neoprene-free wetsuit, and released its first bio-based rubber suit—using sap from the hevea tree—in 2012.

The company then released its recipe to the industry at large in 2014.

"We are constantly working to reduce our impact and share solutions within the industry," Hubbard said. "Currently, we are collaborating with multiple brands to convert their wetsuits to Yulex and implement this program with Bolder Industries, providing a sustainable end-of-life solution."

Patagonia's "Wetsuit Forge," also in Ventura, is the company's research, development and repair center, constructed in 2020.

The firm does not have to go far to test the design of Yulex wetsuits, as the breakers are mere steps from the front door of Patagonia's headquarters in Southern California.

The development of the Yulex wetsuits bore further fruit in 2023, when the suits were updated with newer materials and designs, making them more flexible and easier to repair.

Patagonia gave them a lifetime warranty at that point—and now, a circular life beyond.

The hope is that the bio-based Yulex brand will be adopted by other wetsuit manufacturers, growing the full pool of Yulex wetsuits in the market for greater circularity.

"The larger adoption of Yulex by major wetsuit brands has been amazing," said Jason McCaffrey, director of Patagonia Surf. "This end-of-life solution through our partnership with Bolder Industries is just one more benefit of using natural rubber."

Bolder told Rubber News earlier this year that its reclaimed CB process uses 96 percent less CO2, 98 percent less water and 61 percent less energy than furnace black production.

Like any other process that requires heat, tire pyrolysis remains energy-intensive.

Materials "mined" from the breakdown—using a suite of processes, including pyrolysis—include, from one tire, gas (10 percent); oil (BolderOil, 40 percent); carbon black (BolderBlack, 33 percent); and steel (15 percent), according to Bolder.

The gas is reused on-site (in Maryville, Mo., where Bolder's production facilities are located), and the steel is sold to recycling companies in that space.

Bolder's rCB and rCB oil remain its bread-and-butter commodities.

As stated, Patagonia collects the EOL Yulex wetsuits in Wetsuit Forge, where zippers are removed.

The suits then are sent to Bolder in Maryville, where rCB is extracted from the wetsuits (and car tires).

Patagonia's manufacturer, the Taiwan-based Sheico, then makes the new Yulex suits using the renewable NR and the reclaimed CB. The first wetsuits set to contain rCB from Bolder are expected to be available commerically by spring 2025.

"At Patagonia, we strive to build the best products and constantly improve everything we do by developing new ways to do things," said Mackenzie Warner, a material developer at Patagonia. "While collaborating on this material with Bolder Industries, we discovered that recovered carbon black from rubber scraps and Yulex wetsuits can be utilized to not only solution-dye wetsuit materials but also black fabrics and trims to make products such as packs and jackets.

"We are excited to continue to find new ways to use this innovative new material and share it with industry."

On the front end of the process, EOL Yulex wetsuits can be dropped off at any local Patagonia store; or, they can be shipped direct for recycling at Bolder.

EOL wetsuits should be washed and dried before they are dropped off or mailed in.

Sustainability also is rising in eastern Alabama.

Continental Carbon Co., which had operated a tire tread-grade carbon black plant near the Georgia border from the early 1980s until the plant's mandated closure in December 2023, said in May that it will partner with Sheico to produce rCB at the same facility.

Operations for the joint venture, announced in May, between CCC (35 percent) and the wetsuit manufacturer Sheico (65 percent) are expected to begin sometime in 2026. The plant will employ between 60 and 100 people.

Houston-based CCC's parent company, the China Synthetic Rubber Corp., approved the May 13 partnership with Eco Infinic Co. Ltd., a Thailand subsidiary of Sheico, to produce rCB, oil and steel cord via tire pyrolysis.

The Phenix City plant in Alabama is expected to generate 30,000 metric tons of rCB per year; 35,000 metric tons of tire pyrolysis oil per year; and 2,300 metric tons of steel cord per year, all three from end-of-life tire feedstock.

Only between 1 and 2 percent of the rCB produced today finds its way into tire production—precisely because rCB is an amalgam of many different vCBs in tires, and often is not a one-for-one replacement.

Bolder Industries claims its rCB has been a drop-in replacement CB, in some cases, for tires.

The future, however, appears bright for rCB, as it now has another avenue for its own circularity—founded in the circularity of more environmentally friendly wetsuits.