Allied Feather & Down today received certification to the Global Recycled Standard (GRS), an internationally recognized product standard for tracking and verifying the content of recycled materials in a final product, while ensuring strict production requirements. With the planned expansion of this certified supply chain, Allied is now the largest certified supplier of high-fill power recycled down, and is able to provide assurance to the consumer through the GRS that the material comes from a post-consumer supply chain and was processed through sustainable means, said the company.
Certifying recycled down is a tricky endeavor, said Allied. Because it cannot be traced for animal welfare, it’s essential to ensure that the down comes from a 100% post-consumer supply chain. Allied’s GRS certified product, TITANIUM:RENU, now achieves this. The GRS provides assurance that TITANIUM:RENU is not blended with untraceable virgin material. This has become a very real problem in the marketing and selling of recycled down. As down prices reached historic lows, a “recycled” product could be sold with a premium price with unscrupulous suppliers blending in virgin material to reach high fill powers and produce larger margins, said the company. But without any sense of traceability, it could be subject to possible animal welfare violations. The GRS ensures that all material was collected from post-consumer products.
It also factors in others issues pertaining to environmental and social criteria, such as the processing methods, detergents, and verification that all parts of the post-consumer goods are being recycled, ensuring the integrity of the final product. In the case of Allied’s supply chain, the majority of the fabric shells are being recycled and turned into fibers which are currently being used by Allied to develop a new synthetic insulation while those not able to be repurposed for fibers are being used to generate energy.
“We are extremely excited to now offer a 100% post-consumer recycled product that rivals the quality, cleanliness, and durability of the finest virgin down in the world and that is certified to the highest and most robust standard available today,” says Daniel Uretsky, Allied’s President. “This has been a multi-year supply chain mapping exercise looking at the down supply chain and considering product manufacturing, consumer habits, and ultimately overlaying the post-consumer supply chain map. Our research has allowed us to identify regions that are producing extremely high quality recycled goods, so that our GRS certified down is also the highest performance down.”
“TITANIUM:RENU is also a game changer in its complete scope through significantly reducing and repurposing waste,” continues Uretsky. “To simply recycle the one bio-degradable part of these goods is a bit disingenuous. We wanted to ensure that every part of the product is being repurposed and have gone through great lengths to work with this supply chain to ensure this happens.”
Allied’s GRS certified TITANIUM:RENU is offered in both grey and white with a range of 700-800 fill power, though due to the nature of the inconsistency of post-consumer material will only be marketed as 700 fill power.
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