How to recycle your old down
How to recycle your old down
How to recycle your old down
You probably have one: a sleeping bag, down jacket, or maybe your duvet or pillow is down-filled. Down has been used as insulation for generations. It's kept people warm at night, and explorers alive in the coldest conditions. And it’s made it possible to spend time in the world’s most hostile environments.
But what happens once your down gear has come to the end of its usable lifetime? What can you do with an old down jacket?
How to recycle down?
Before you think about recycling your down gear, you should ask yourself: has your item really come to the end of its usable life? Could it be given a second chance with a wash or repair? Our Service Centre may well be able to keep your kit in action for many adventures to come.
If you’re sure your old down gear is beyond repair, there are three ways for you to send it to us for recycling. You can drop it at one of our in-store down collection bins, bring it directly to our Service Centre (addresses below), or post it to us.
Postage Address UK
Rab Down Recycling
Equip Outdoor Technologies
Birchwood Way
Somercotes
Derbyshire
DE55 4QQ
Freepost is available for UK down recycling.
Simply create a freepost return label here and drop off at your local Post Office.
Freepost Return Reason: Down Recycling
Freepost Authorisation Code: Long Live Down
Postage Address EU
Rab Down Recycling
Equip Benelux B.V.
Plesmanstraat 1
3833 LA Leusden
Netherlands
Unfortunately Freepost is not yet available in the EU.
What happens next?
Collecting down
We gather up and bail all sorts of down, whether it’s an old down jacket, sleeping bag, duvet, pillow, or another down product that has come to the end of its usable lifetime.
Sorting and grading
The down is sorted and graded in Italy by our specialist partner, Minardi Piume, before being delivered back to us.
Cleaning and treatment
The reclaimed down is sterilised, cleaned, and treated with hydrophobic finish.
A second life
With the same insulative properties as virgin down, this high quality recycled down can then be used to make new products.
What is recycled down?
Down is the fine layer of feathers that sits under the tough outer feathers of a bird. These feathers are closest to the bird's body, extremely lightweight, and a very efficient means of trapping air.
Trapping air under a jacket or in a sleeping bag creates an incredibly effective thermal barrier. That's why our most technical insulation products are filled with down, to keep you warm in challenging environments. Down is also extremely packable, allowing alpinists and mountain-goers to stuff down layers away and pull them out when the temperature drops.
Down is a waste product.
Much of our down comes from the food industry as a by-product of meat production. All down sourced from farms into our supply chain is Responsible Down Standard certified. The Responsible Down Standard (RDS) independently certifies down and feathers against animal welfare requirements and tracks it from farm to final product.
However, down isn't a single-use material.
Down can be re-used, over and over again, and upcycled into new products once the original product has come to the end of its life.
We started using recycled down back in 2019, and you can now find several jackets featuring recycled down in our range.
In fact, in 2023 we saved 23,000kg of down from going to landfill by using recycled down.
Despite down being such a great material to use and re-use, there are very few systems in place to recycle it. As a result, often even the most responsibly sourced down may end up in landfill.
That’s why we’ve now set up down collection sites across Europe, enabling us to gather your worn-out down products such as old down jackets, duvets, pillows, sleeping bags and more, before giving this valuable material a new lease of life.
FAQs
2.9 Why have you not included stuff sacks for sleeping bags?
Sleeping bags have both stuff sacks and storage bags. For now, we have concentrated on the product (the sleeping bag) Material Facts table. We are exploring the best way to share the Material Facts data for storage and stuff sacks for a future release.
Fabric and Material Data
Is recycled down as good as virgin down?
Recycled down offers the same benefits as virgin down, from its superb packability and compressibility, to its exceptional warmth-to-weight ratio.
Is recycled down warm?
The recycling process does not affect the insulative properties of the down, and as a result, recycled down is just as warm as virgin down with the same fill power.
Can you recycle down duvets?
We recycle all types of down products, from down jackets and sleeping bags to old duvets and pillows.
Can goose down be recycled?
We can recycle both duck and goose down jackets. Goose down tends to be higher quality and offer the best warmth-to-weight ratio, perfect when you’re moving fast in the mountains. Duck down clusters are smaller and less warm for their weight, but are ideal for our everyday, general use jackets.
Material Facts General
How do I check if my kit is down-filled?
Have a look at the white care label. Here it should specify if it’s goose down, duck down, or synthetic. Please don't send us synthetic items as these will spoil the batch.
Is recycled down ethical?
When a down item is beyond repair, recycling it allows us to recover the down and prevent it from ending up in landfill, reducing waste and making the most of this valuable insulation. Other materials, such as trims and fabric fibres, are also saved from landfill and repurposed where possible.
This makes recycled down a lower impact alternative to virgin down, but your first step should always be to keep your down gear going for as long as possible before recycling it. Check out our Service Centre and give your kit a new lease of life with a professional wash or repair.
2.9 Why have you not included stuff sacks for sleeping bags?
Sleeping bags have both stuff sacks and storage bags. For now, we have concentrated on the product (the sleeping bag) Material Facts table. We are exploring the best way to share the Material Facts data for storage and stuff sacks for a future release.
Why Material Facts?
Discover why we’re introducing Material Facts and hear our plans for it to evolve in the future.
Want to Know More?
Check out our Material Facts Q&A page to dive into the detail.
The Material Facts data has been calculated by component, by item and by weight. Each table has been manually checked by product and material experts and cross-checked with fabric and factory certificates. We rely on our partners across our supply chain to provide us with timely, accurate and up-to-date information. We have taken all reasonable steps to ensure accuracy. However, it is possible that inadvertent errors and tolerances in data may occur.