Bikinis can’t be recycled, and who’d buy a used one? Swimsuits made from old fishing nets and carpets are increasingly an option

Swimsuit sales are booming but two-thirds are made from polyester or spandex, which can’t be recycled. With no resale market, many swimsuits end up in landfills

Boutique and fashion swimwear brands increasingly use fibres made from spandex scraps or recycled plastic bottles, fishing nets and industrial carpets

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For decades now, swimsuits have been made with Spandex – but it is difficult to recycle. British label Rixo’s swimwear collection is made from Q-Nova, a sustainable nylon fibre obtained from regenerated raw materials.

Published: 1:15am, 11 Aug 2021Updated: 1:04pm, 12 Aug 2021

In the first half of 2021, before the spectre of the Delta coronavirus variant arose, consumers were in a liberated mood. Along with airline tickets and high heels, swimsuits became must-haves for shoppers eager to escape quarantine.

Globally, consumers spent US$2.7 billion on swimwear in the first half of 2021 – a 19 per cent jump from the same period in 2019, according to industry analysts at market research company NPD Group.

For decades now, most swimsuits have been made with spandex, which was invented by scientists at chemical company DuPont in 1959 as a lighter, more breathable alternative to rubber.

The petroleum-based material quickly became standard in the apparel industry and, in 1972, Speedo became the first company to sell spandex swimwear. As of 2017, polyester and spandex made up about 65 per cent of the fabrics used in the swimwear market, according to Allied Market Research.

US brand Marah Hoffman makes swimsuits using Econyl, a kind of recycled nylon.

As new bikinis, one-pieces and briefs rotate into people’s wardrobes, the worn-out ones typically wind up in landfills. “Spandex is a very difficult material to recycle,” says Shannon Bergstrom, sustainability brand manager at waste management company Recycle Track Systems. The synthetic fibres are too short for mechanical processes to sort, and no effective chemical methods exist to recover the used material.

Consumers can always donate or resell used suits, but there’s no guarantee anyone will buy them, even if they’re new with tags. “I’m hopeful that companies will pick up the bill to create solutions,” Bergstrom adds.