Arcade Belt Co. announced Tuesday that all of its belts will now be made with Repreve, a post-consumer, certified recycled yarn.
The shift to Repreve across the full range of Arcade belt products will unlock a smaller footprint without sacrificing comfort, durability or functionality, the Olympic Valley, Calif.-based company said.
“Throughout our journey to design and make uncomplicated, genius belts, we have consistently kept our focus on doing everything we can as a team and as a brand to reduce the impact on our environment,” said Kevin Walker, marketing director at Arcade. “We partnered with Repreve to ensure our standards of high-quality, performance materials used in all of our belt webbing were met. We are really proud to be shifting all of our belts over to Repreve certified recycled polyester, a gold standard in both sourcing and fabrication that is fully traceable.”
Arcade belt webbing is now made of 85 percent Repreve recycled polyester and 15 percent natural rubber, a virgin material that gives Arcade belts their signature performance stretch and comfort. Arcade buckles are made of a virgin POM, a thermoplastic, or nylon that is recyclable.
While recycled elastics and plastics exist, through lab and in-field testing Arcade said it has found that these alternatives are not as durable and do not meet the company’s standards for product longevity and quality.
“Arcade belts retain their controlled performance stretch and keep their durable structure, even after years of active daily use,” Walker added. “That’s why we confidently attach a lifetime guarantee to our products. A major part of being more sustainable is choosing the right partners and quality materials from the very beginning. The shift to recycled yarn in all Arcade belts adds yet another layer to our on-going efforts to tread lighter.”
By choosing to make its performance stretch belts with post-consumer Repreve recycled yarn, by 2024 Arcade will repurpose 3 million plastic bottles from oceans and landfills, reduce 300 kg of CO2 emissions and save 3.1 million liters of water.
All new performance stretch webbing belts currently available at arcadebelts.com now feature Repreve, including the Adventure, Capture and Futureweave lines.
Repreve is Unifi Inc.’s flagship brand of textile fibers, polyester chip and plastic bottle flake, all made from recycled materials. To date, Unifi has transformed more than 5 billion plastic bottles into Repreve fibers, which can be found in products among the apparel, home furnishings and automotive markets.