The first 100% circular cycling jersey, by Velor

Velor, a young, innovative brand in sustainable cycling apparel, is proud to announce a significant milestone in its journey to create the world’s first fully circular cycling brand. By partnering with GR3N, Velor has successfully created the very first circular cycling jersey, embodying its commitment to transforming the cycling apparel industry from a linear to a circular economy.

Source: Press Release

In today’s world, the linear economy – characterized by a “take, make, use, dispose” model – has devastating impacts on ecosystems, climate change, and resource depletion. At Velor, we believe it is imperative to use existing resources rather than continuously extracting new ones. Scientific evidence shows that the extraction and burning of fossil resources are the main drivers of climate change (source: AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2023 — IPCC). Velor’s mission is to combat this by achieving full circularity – from eco-responsible creation to transparent production, timeless designs, and recyclable designs.

Velor’s vision is to transform the linear system into a circular system, ensuring that old garments have a second life instead of ending up in landfills or incinerators. Its close collaboration with GR3N has been essential to successfully creating the very first circular jersey, allowing materials to be reused at their original quality.

Here’s how the circular approach works:

Consumer Participation: The journey begins with customers, who can send their old jerseys via various collection points, including the website, partner stores, and cycling events.

Collection and Logistics: Once collected, these used jerseys are transported to recycling partners, ensuring a smooth and efficient process.

Recycling (Polyester Recovery): The collected jerseys undergo a state-of-the-art recycling process where polyester is recovered and broken down into its basic components.

Fiber Spinning: The recycled polyester is then transformed into high-quality yarns, serving as the basis for fabrics.

Fabric Production: The yarn is woven into a durable, high-quality fabric, maintaining the performance standards expected by customers.

Sublimation / Garment Sewing: Finally, the fabric is sublimated and sewn into new jerseys and other cycling apparel, ready for new adventures with customers.

This innovative circular process, supported by advanced recycling technologies, allows for the production of high-quality, durable cycling apparel, while significantly reducing waste and minimizing the environmental footprint. By integrating these steps, Velor is making significant progress towards a sustainable future, reaffirming its commitment to eco-responsible practices.

The complexity of recreating the entire recycling process on a smaller than industrial scale has been successfully resolved. After validating the concept at a demonstration scale with the recycling of 300 jerseys, Velor is now moving to the next step: demonstrating feasibility at a 500 kg scale, with the goal of starting to recycle approximately 5000 jerseys by the end of 2024. The ultimate goal is 100% circularity by 2028, with its partner GR3N.

Velor is launching its first campaign to publicize its success in creating the first circular jersey. This campaign marks the beginning of a new collection of old jerseys. Customers can send them in to support our next step – the 500 kg scale.

A word from the team

“We are extremely proud of this significant milestone. We announced it in our first presentation video 3 years ago, a few months after Velor was founded: ‘then, we want to become completely circular’ – it seemed a bit crazy at the time. But we did it with our partners. This is very good news. For Velor, certainly, but also and above all for our planet because we are demonstrating that another system, more respectful of our environment, is possible.” Mickael Jardin, Velor.

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