Family-owned field hockey e-commerce, distribution and retail business Flick Hockey has teamed up with the Eurecat technology centre to develop a new line of locally produced high-performance sportswear made from plastic waste recovered from the seabed which has cut its carbon footprint by 40 percent.
“By leveraging the historically robust Catalan textile industry and getting recycled products, especially from the seabed, we can close this circle to manufacture a high-performance sports product which really does have a constructive impact on the environment and society,” says Flick Hockey owner Jordi Carrera.
Eurecat has delivered scientific and technological support for the product’s development through its Functional Textiles and Waste, Energy and Environmental Impact units to unlock a value proposition anchored in local manufacturing to diminish environmental impact.
This project “underscores Eurecat’s capabilities and standout technological knowhow to help companies innovate in order to bring quality textile products to market with sustainability in mind,” says Virginia Garcia, director of Eurecat’s Functional Textiles Unit.
“Driving circularity using disruptive technologies, managing resources more efficiently and recovering waste is a growing trend which brings benefits for business competitiveness and the environment,” adds Frederic Clarens, director of Eurecat’s Waste, Energy and Environmental Impact Unit.
The seabed plastic recovery strategy is conducted in conjunction with Seaqual Initiative, a company engaged in recovering, processing and recycling plastic waste found in the oceans to manufacture new products. In this case, the high-performance sportswear line is manufactured with Seaqual fabric, a type of yarn made from recycled plastics.
