New watersports kit survey to tackle recycling challenges

A new survey designed to gather information around unused watersports clothing and equipment has been launched, with the hope of limiting the amount of kit ending up in landfill.

Created by our friends at Sustainable Sailing Ltd, a world leading company in sail recycling, in collaboration with the World Sailing Trust and The Green Blue, this is the first nationwide survey of this sort. 

Designed to build a picture around usage patterns, types of kit, and activity trends, it's hoped findings will help inform future recycling efforts.

Over a million tonnes of used textiles generated every year in the UK. Of these, only some are resold, repurposed or recycled. For sports-related textiles, their technical materials mean most end their lives in landfill, releasing microplastics which have been detected across the globe, including in Antarctica.

The situation is even more challenging when it comes to recycling composite materials, such as glass fibre, which are often used to build watersports equipment.

Dr Joe Penhaul-Smith, founding director of Sustainable Sailing said: “Our clothing and equipment is designed to be hard wearing and resistant to all the abuse of high-performance sports, but this has come at the cost of being difficult to manage at the end of use.

“This survey will allow us to understand the needs of our consumers, allowing us to innovate and offer environmentally responsible products and services.

“We encourage all UK residents who participate in adventure sports to take part in our survey and share their valuable insight.”

Already making headway to tackle the issue, Sustainable Sailing Ltd have developed innovative recycling solutions to prevent watersports related textiles and composites from reaching landfill.

Their approach even offers the ability to recover all the chemical building blocks which make up these textiles, allowing them to be used in new, durable garments. 

As they expand their recycling efforts, Sustainable Sailing are eager to ensure their technologies meet the needs of watersports participants in the UK.

By filling out the survey, you can help build a valuable picture around current trends, preferences, and attitudes of UK consumers towards their watersports equipment, including the amount it gets used and what happens to it at its end of life.

Want to get involved? Complete the online survey today.