May 2, 2019 The UpDownCycle Project

Celebrating its 100th birthday this year, the youth division of the German Alpine Club (JDAV) has teamed up with Mountain Equipment to breathe new life into old down products.

When it comes to down, “down”cycling is a no-brainer: Down fill recycling is relatively straight-forward and in turn reduces consumption of raw materials and waste.

“Together with Mountain Equipment, we have developed the DownUpCycling project to help old down products get a new life on the mountain. We want to take responsibility for society and our actions,” explains Deputy JDAV Federal Youth Leader Kathrin Weber.

Here, they found a natural ally in Mountain Equipment, a brand that has long appreciated the value and versatility of down. After establishing the DOWN CODEX®, the down specialist then took the next step towards sustainability with the DOWN CYCLE ™ project. Since 2018, Mountain Equipment’s Earthrise series has been offering apparel made from both 100% recycled down and 100% recycled outer material.

Thomas Strobl, Managing Director of Mountain Equipment Germany, sees the DownUpCycling project as the perfect complement to their work:

“Our long-term goal is a closed-loop recycling system for down products, so that no down is thrown away. With JDAV, we are making an important step in this direction.”

DownUpCycling: do good, join in and win

For its 100th anniversary, JDAV is calling on its members to collect used down products such as jackets or bedding (down duvets, pillows and sleeping bags). It doesn’t matter which brand the material comes from – the important thing is that it contains down. The collected down products can be sent to Mountain Equipment free of charge by JDAV teams.

The French company Re:Down then recycles the down for reuse in Mountain Equipment’s Earthrise range. Eric Firmann, Re:Down co-founder, is excited about the DownUpCycling project:

“JDAV is a very interesting target group for this action: it’s young consumers with a strong sense of sustainability. They understand how important it is to conserve our resources.”

Attractive prizes await participating youth groups: The amount of down submitted is set against the number of youth members of the participating section. The first 10 sections will receive a grant of 5000 Euros from Mountain Equipment. Among the other groups, Mountain Equipment will offer ten bivouacs will be raffled off.

Source: JDAV