Finisterre to make wetsuits from wetsuits

Born from a love of the sea, Finisterre – in partnership with Exeter University’s centre of excellence for Materials Reengineering – are offering a full-time job for a Wetsuit Recycler in support of the brand’s commitment to innovation and sustainability. 

As committed surfers, we all have a stack of old suits laying around somewhere. Whilst there are initiatives that exist around the down-cycling of old wetsuits, yoga mats and beer koozies fall short of producing a real solution.  After a quick amnesty in the Workshop, Finisterre founder Tom Kay collected nearly 100 ‘old’ wetsuits, no longer used by the team.

“There have been some great advances in eco wetsuits and the search for alternatives to petroleum based neoprene, but the real elephant in the room for the watersports industry is what to do with a wetsuit at the end of its functional life. It’s a massive, global problem that we need to address; in this day and age there has to be a solution, and this is what we’re committed to finding. In the UK alone, surfers are replacing their suits on average every two years, with no real idea about what to do with their old suits.” Tom Kay, Finisterre founder.

Finisterre’s Wetsuit Recycler has the potential to bring positive change on a massive scale and the position is open to anybody; the ultimate aim being to make wetsuits from wetsuits.

According to the Economic Impact of Domestic Surfing on the United Kingdom report published by Surfers Against Sewage in 2015, there are 500,000 surfers in the United Kingdom alone, and on average, they will replace their wetsuit every two years.  That means every two years, 650 tonnes of neoprene wetsuits are replaced (assuming an average wetsuit weight of 1.53kg) which is the equivalent of 31.6 London double decker buses.  Wetsuits are not biodegradable and the majority use virgin raw materials in their manufacture.

“This is a genuinely pioneering positon and success is not guaranteed. We are looking for somebody with an inquisitive mind who can challenge the status quo, whilst being supported by a leading scientific institution. It’s a very exciting opportunity, bringing together innovation and sustainability, with the aim of addressing a huge environmental problem.”

To find out more and apply (closing date for applications is now the 4th September 2017) visit finisterre.com/wetsuitsfromwetsuits

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