United Kingdom-based Bam has released a recyclable waterproof jacket called Any Weather Mac, one free from forever chemicals thanks to a new technology that the B Corp. company has developed.
Made nearly entirely of recycled polyester, the jacket is one of few that stand out in a global market that has for the longest time relied on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—more popularly known as forever chemicals—to make a piece of garment waterproof.
PFAS, however, have been useful for the fashion industry. They’re found in raincoats, and they’re also found in outerwear, which needs a finished product that can keep the consumer dry in long days out in nature.
As practical as the benefits were, this came with an environmental cost. Not only is it harmful to nature, it has also been linked to certain health conditions, since it can also be found in drinking water, soil, and food.
“Our answer is a technology we call Aquaveil, and it’s a genuine first,” the company said in a post on its official website. “Instead of bonding different materials together with standard chemical glues, the Any Weather Mac is made almost entirely from one material family—recycled polyester—right down to the seams and trims. The only thing that isn’t, is the recycled metal zip head, which is easily removed.”
“The result: a coat that’s 95 percent recycled polyester, with a bond as strong as the fabric itself—and one that can be recycled whole, not painstakingly dismantled,” it added.
Any Weather Mac is designed to be sustainable from how it’s made to how it’s discarded, with the company taking steps to make sure the product won’t end up in a landfill. Salvation Army Trading Company, the U.K.’s largest charity-owned textile collector, will recycle the discarded item so it doesn’t get thrown to landfill.
Forever chemicals, which got their name because of how long they break down naturally, are currently facing different levels of regulatory restrictions around the world, with the European Union considering broader restrictions. There have been hardline stances too, which also serves as market deterrents, such as a ban on any clothing with PFAS in New York and California since last year.
The U.K. government, for example, released a PFAS plan earlier this year, which would observe a careful approach on the issue, focusing on data gathering to determine the scope of the problem. Without hardline restrictions, critics said the government’s plan was being too soft on forever chemicals.
Nevertheless, Bam has been trying to find alternatives for years. For two decades since it started, the company said it has been exploring and pursuing ways to ensure its activewear has a lighter footprint, such as using nature-based and recycled fabrics for over 90 percent of what it makes.
The waterproof jacket, the company said, seems like a natural progression to that journey. “So, a genuinely recyclable waterproof felt less like an option and more like unfinished business,” the company said.
There have been outerwear brands that have found a way to make their products water-proof without resorting to forever chemicals. But this has been a difficult and time-consuming undertaking. Patagonia, for example, took nearly two decades before it finally found a way to get rid of PFAS without sacrificing performance.
“It’s taken more than 15 years to get where we are today,” Patagonia said in a post in 2023. “Others say it’s about damn time. What’s indisputable is that getting here without PFAS and without compromising performance was harder than we imagined and provided important, humbling lessons.”
