8 Bottles, 1 Jean – The Levi’s® Brand Introduces Waste

The Levi’s® brand introduced a new collection of denim incorporating post-consumer waste, specifically recycled plastic bottles and food trays. Each Levi’s® Waste<LessTM product will include a minimum of 20 percent post-consumer recycled content, or, on average, eight 12 to 20-ounce bottles per jean. The Levi’s® Waste<LessTM products, which will be available for both men and women as part of the Levi’s® Spring 2013 collection, represent the next chapter in the company’s ongoing commitment to sustainable design.

The Spring 2013 Levi’s® Waste<Less collection will utilize over 3.5 million recycled bottles. The Spring 2013 men’s products, which will be available globally, will feature Levi’s® 511TM Skinny jeans, a new modern-looking Levi’s® 504 Straight Fit jean, and the iconic Levi’s® Trucker jacket. For women, Levi’s® Boyfriend Skinny jeans in a progressive fit will be available in the U.S. and Europe.

Through the company’s partners, PET plastic, or polyethylene terephthalate materials – including brown beer bottles, green soda bottles, clear water bottles and black food trays – are collected through municipal recycling programs across the United States. The bottles and food trays are sorted by color, crushed into flakes, and made into a polyester fiber. Next, the polyester fiber is blended with cotton fiber, which is finally woven with traditional cotton yarn by Cone Denim to create the denim used in the Levi’s® Waste<Less jeans and trucker jackets.  The color of the bottles used adds a beautiful undertone to the denim fabric creating a unique finish in the final product.