While “PFC-free” has become a common claim in the outdoor industry, Fjällräven’s extensive journey of eliminating PFCs since 2009, closely aligned with scientific research, reveals a much more complex reality.

The year 2023 was supposed to be a landmark for the journey that Fjällräven began in the early 2000s. At that time, the company was concerned by the latest research findings on the dangers of PFCs*. Donna Bruns, Global Product Director at Fjällräven, describes it as a wake-up call:

“Not only did we learn how toxic these chemicals were to both animals and humans, but they were also already everywhere, and their breakdown was extremely slow,” says Bruns and continues:

“Our eyes were opened. Was this truly something we wanted to use? It seemed to completely go against the core values of our brand, deeply rooted in sustainability and nature.”

The final piece of the puzzle?

A journey would follow with many positive results (such as the Eco-Shell fabric with PFC-free DWR launched in 2012 and the phasing out of PFCs from all fabrics in 2015) as well as major setbacks (such as hidden contamination from other products or manufacturing discovered on Fjällräven’s products).

Coming into 2023, Fjällräven had long since gained control over the full supply chain of fabrics, not only for apparel, but also for its tents, backpacks and more. Now, the last PFC-puzzle piece seemed to be in place: Zippers. After overcoming many challenges, YKK, the world leader in zippers, was able to unveil a waterproof zipper produced without PFCs.

“We were just getting ready to once again say ‘yes, we’re there!’ until we found out that all the painted zips still had PFCs in the paint,” Bruns recalls.

Science doesn’t have all the answers

Researchers believe they’ve only located roughly 80% of fluorochemicals’ areas of application, while 20% are yet to be found. Meanwhile, the ban on fluorochemicals is set to become effective in California by 1 January 2025, followed by the EU later in 2025 or 2026. For Fjällräven, the upcoming ban is strongly welcomed as it will push other brands to make the same shift and also make it easier to communicate the needed change to suppliers. Fjällräven’s long PFC-journey has made the company skeptical about certificates and bold claims around PFCs.

“We have learned so much about testing and validating, and just how thorough you need to be. A certificate is just paper, you need to follow up constantly,” says Fjällräven CEO Martin Axelhed.

To this, Brun adds:

“It’s like there’s no end to it. This isn’t a success story. Not yet. It’s hard, continuous work. We’re constantly on the lookout for when and where it will pop up again.”

 

*PFCs here stands for per- and polyfluorinated chemicals, a group of toxic “Forever-chemicals” that include PFOA, PFOS and other per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances known as PFAS.

 

Photo: Fjällräven