NetPlus: How fishing nets are turned into swimming shorts

Not all recycling is equal, says Greg Swienton of Bureo, makers of this innovative material created from recycled fishing nets

Please can you introduce us to NetPlus…

NetPlus material is made from recycled fishing nets, reducing the harmful impact of fishing net waste on our ocean. Through the NetPlus recycling program, discarded nets are sourced directly from fishing communities before they can end up in the environment. The material is 100% traceable, meaning the entire process from collection through recycling is third-party audited and certified for material traceability. 

What qualities does NetPlus bring to swimwear?

Nylon is an engineered material known for its strength, durability and high performance characteristics, which is why the fishing industry chooses it for their nets as it stands up to the rough and demanding conditions. With NetPlus 100% post-consumer recycled nylon, there’s no sacrifice in its durability, performance, or longevity, which is crucial for swimwear. 

What makes NetPlus different from other recycled materials?

Not all recycling is equal. Many recycled materials are made with pre-consumer (or post-industrial) inputs, typically factory scraps from an inefficient industrial process. Fishing nets, on the other hand, were first used by fishermen before reaching the end of their useful life. By creating a more circular solution for discarded fishing nets, the use of NetPlus is helping to reduce the amount of plastic entering the ocean while keeping valuable nylon and material in circulation.

How do you hope the kit industry will respond?

By adopting the material! By empowering brands with high-quality recycled materials, we aim to have a ‘net positive’ impact on the environment and the communities we partner with. By choosing products made with the material, you are helping to reduce the amount of plastic entering the ocean.

Why are fishing nets a problem? 

Abandoned and lost fishing gear is considered one of the most harmful forms of ocean plastic pollution, making up an estimated 10% of marine litter. When discarded, these nets can entangle marine life, harm coral and seabed habitats and break down into microplastics. Once nets enter the marine environment, they become significantly more challenging and costly to collect, which is why we don’t pull ghost gear from the ocean and instead incentivise fishermen to give end-of-life nets for recycling. 

How do you collect the fishing nets? 

To date, we have sourced nets from 11 countries: Chile, Peru, Argentina, Ecuador, Mexico, US, Seychelles, Panama, Mauritius, Brazil, and Japan. Through an incentivised recycling program, we work with fishermen to aggregate their nets at dedicated collection points to ensure they do not end up in landfill or the environment. We either pay fishermen directly for every kg of net returned, or donate funds for every kg received from commercial fishery partners to environmental non-profits focused on coastal and marine ecosystem health and clean energy and water projects.

Please can you explain the process of turning fishing nets into a performance fabric.

Step 1: Collecting: Discarded nets are sourced from fishing communities around the world through an incentivised recycling program.

Step 2: Processing: Nets are sorted, cleaned, shredded, and packed at Bureo facilities before heading to Bureo’s recycling partners.

Step 3: Recycling: Nylon fishing nets go through an advanced depolymerization recycling process where they are broken down into their chemical building blocks, with all dyes and impurities removed, and reconstructed into 100% NetPlus nylon pellets.

Step 4: Spinning: NetPlus nylon pellets are extruded into high-quality yarns ready to be woven into a range of performance fabrics. 

Step 5: Innovating: Fabrics made with NetPlus nylon meet rigorous standards to ensure durability and performance for brand partners like Passenger.

Which swimwear brands are using NetPlus?

Passenger will be the first UK brand partner using NetPlus in their men’s boardshorts. When designing their new boardshorts, they wanted to find a fabric that was quick-drying, durable and more sustainable.

A question for Hannah Jamieson, Menswear Designer at Passenger – why does this matter to the brand?

It’s always our aim at Passenger to use more responsible, recycled fabric options. When designing our new boardshorts, we wanted to find a fabric that was quick drying, durable, and more sustainable. We love the story about turning fishing nets into fabric, so using NetPlus in our boardshorts instead of virgin plastic was a no-brainer, fully aligned to the Passenger ethos.

Can you tell us more about the new Passenger boardshorts that will be made from NetPlus?

The fabric has a beautiful texture and a nice matte finish, and it looks great in Passenger’s summer colours and prints. We have a variety of different boardshort styles in our men’s range with different short lengths, but we also decided to utilise the NetPlus fabric in our bestselling ‘Drifter Beach Short’, which comes lined or unlined to suit different customer preferences. In our women’s range, we are using NetPlus fabric for our ‘Way Out Short’ and ‘Flaris All Purpose Short’, which are popular all-purpose styles perfect for paddleboarding and other outdoor activities. 

Find out more at bureo.co. PASSENGER Cruiser NetPlus® Recycled 19” Boardshort, £59.95. Photos: Courtesy of Bureo