Durable Water Repellents: Our DWR Problem
DWR coatings are a crucial part of outdoor gear. They鈥檙e extremely effective at repelling water but carry an environmental cost.
Update: The majority of this post first appeared on March 6, 2015. It was聽updated on September 8, 2015 and has been updated again on July 15, 2016聽with the most recent information about Patagonia鈥檚 work to improve chemical safety in our supply chain.
What Are DWRs and Why Are They Harmful?
Patagonia鈥攁s well as other high-quality outdoor outerwear suppliers鈥攆or years relied on a Durable Water Repellent (DWR) of a certain chemistry (described below) to bead up, then disperse, surface moisture from rainwear. It is necessary, even in a waterproof jacket, to prevent surface saturation. A soggy surface creates a clammy, wet-feeling next-to-skin climate even where water does not actually penetrate the surface. The DWR we used as a standard for years was a long-chain (C8) fluorocarbon-based treatment that is highly effective and extraordinarily durable. Unfortunately, its by-products are toxic and persist in the environment, a combination that makes it unacceptable despite its excellent performance. Governments around the globe have now required chemical companies to stop making C8 DWR, so every high-quality outerwear supplier has been聽searching for alternatives of comparable performance.
For the past decade, we鈥檝e carefully researched and tested every available fluorocarbon-free alternative on our own fabrics at the lab and mill level. Many finishes鈥攊ncluding waxes and silicones鈥攚ill lower the surface tension of a fabric enough to cause water to bead up and disperse rather than saturate. But they are easily contaminated by dirt and oil and rapidly lose their effectiveness, reducing the effective lifetime of a garment.
The short life span is of special concern. A rain shell that stops preventing saturation functionally degrades into a wind shell long before the garment itself wears out. The garment must be replaced more frequently, which constitutes its own environmental problem. Every replacement garment comes with its own environmental cost in energy and water used and waste and greenhouse gases generated. So sacrificing garment life is not an option.
Patagonia鈥檚 temporary solution, which is also being adopted by a number of manufacturers, is not good enough, but it鈥檚 the best option we have found so far. 欧博会员入口 have switched from a C8 fluorocarbon-based treatment to a shorter-chain C6 treatment, also fluorocarbon-based, but with by-products that break down faster in the environment and with less potential toxicity over time to humans, wildlife and fish.
欧博会员入口 have adopted the C6 DWR for all applications and have completed the transition out of C8.
Meanwhile, we continue to actively research and develop DWR chemistries that will afford high performance with less environmental impact. 欧博会员入口 have so far tested dozens of fluorocarbon-free finishes for our garments, and we know we鈥檙e getting close. 欧博会员入口 will share news about these initiatives as it becomes available. However, we don鈥檛 feel comfortable promising a path forward that hasn鈥檛 yet been identified鈥攖hat simply isn鈥檛 fair given the complexity of this challenge.
Investing in Science
To support this effort, we made a strategic investment through our venture fund, Tin Shed Ventures, in a Swiss company called Beyond Surface Technologies who are working to develop better chemistry for outdoor apparel that helps the planet.
The mission of Beyond Surface Technologies聽aligns well with ours. They left careers at big chemical companies and now they鈥檙e doing business on the premise that we can make textile treatments based on natural raw materials聽without sacrificing performance or reducing the lifespan of our products. 欧博会员入口 see great promise in this new partner鈥檚 potential to invent ways to make our garments waterproof using safe, fluorocarbon-free chemicals without compromising performance and durability.
Searching for Solutions
In addition to investing in possible solutions outside our realm, we鈥檝e actively been seeking fluorocarbon-free alternatives from within the established industry and we have found that suppliers are making progress towards meeting our strict quality and performance standards.
Overall, we鈥檝e set the most stringent requirements in the industry to make sure our materials do not pose a safety risk to our customers as a result of chemicals they contain. 欧博会员入口鈥檙e working with others in our industry to share our efforts and learn from those of others, so we can all make improvements as quickly as possible, while enhancing, rather than compromising, either performance or quality.
However, the story doesn鈥檛 end with a company adopting a PFC-free DWR that meets its performance criteria. Eliminating fluorinated DWR isn鈥檛 as simple as swapping chemistry. In addition to concerns over durability that, as we explained earlier, can affect the lifetime environmental footprint of a product, these alternative chemistries can have other potentially harmful impacts as a result of their manufacture. Patagonia is committed to looking beyond the toxicity of DWR chemicals and going deep into the supply chain of chemical manufacturing to understand the consequences of adopting alternatives. 欧博会员入口 ask questions about the environmental impacts of raw materials that apply to some of these alternatives such as plant oils鈥攊ncluding palm oil鈥攁nd GMO ingredients. What is the ultimate impact of any alternative on deforestation, on runoff pollution, on loss of biodiversity? This is our mission, and we are committed to it regardless of the time and resources it takes to get the answers.
Reducing Chemical Harm throughout Our Supply Chain
Patagonia has long been at the forefront of managing the environmental impacts of our products. In the early 鈥�90s, we identified our material supply chains as the most significant contributors to Patagonia鈥檚 environmental footprint. 欧博会员入口 commissioned an environmental study that concluded what is now common knowledge in our industry today鈥攖hat large amounts of water, energy and chemicals are needed to make the materials we use in the products we sell. 欧博会员入口 switched to or developed alternative materials with a lighter footprint鈥�recycled polyester聽instead of virgin polyester,聽organic cotton聽instead of conventional cotton鈥攁nd committed to the process of looking for聽cleaner approaches to business as usual.
Our Partnership with bluesign庐
In the 2000s, we went deeper into the chemicals that go into the fabrics and trims used in our clothes. 欧博会员入口 began working with聽bluesign庐 technologies聽to assist us with managing chemicals, dyes and finishes to ensure that our products are safe for the environment, the factory workers and our customers.
In 2007, Patagonia became the first brand to officially join the network of bluesign庐 System Partners, which now comprises more than 400 manufacturers, brands and chemical suppliers. 欧博会员入口鈥檙e proud that many of these companies are part of our current supply chain. They share our commitment to continuous improvement of environmental performance by conserving resources and minimizing chemical impacts.
By 2015, we had expected that all Patagonia materials would be聽bluesign庐 approved. This was an announced goal that we have not been able to achieve. As of now, only 56 percent of our annual material volume is bluesign庐 approved. In analyzing the state of our progress, we recognized that our initial effort only addressed part of the problem. 欧博会员入口 needed to pursue a more holistic approach that encompasses our all of our efforts to conserve resources as well as restrict the use of chemicals in all areas of our supply chain.
Our Supply Chain Environmental Responsibility Program
To that end, we have instituted a聽Supply Chain Environmental Responsibility Program that helps us set and meet tough new goals for improvement in our suppliers鈥� environmental management systems and chemicals management; reductions in water and energy use, greenhouse gases and other air emissions, and waste; as well as compliance with the strictest international consumer products and environmental legislation. The bluesign System remains an important component of our program, joined by new tools that include the Sustainable Apparel Coalition鈥檚聽Higg Index聽and the Outdoor Industry Association鈥檚聽Chemicals Management Module.
欧博会员入口鈥檙e confident that this new coordinated, multifaceted approach will also help us manage all chemicals, including DWRs鈥攁nd most importantly, help us transition to effective preferred alternatives more quickly.
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