The mission of Swedish Stockings is to change and influence the entire hosiery industry.
The Problem: Each year 2 Billion pairs of tights or stockings are produced, worn once, and then discarded.
To achieve their mission, they are creating pantyhose from both pre and post-consumer nylon waste. They are saving that material from waste while reducing energy and water use. Causing less harm to the environment than traditional nylon production and reducing waste.
Along with all of this great sustainability comes quality. Swedish Stockings products are made to last. They feel wonderful to wear and last the distance. They are knitted in Italy where high-quality hosiery has been created for a long time. The factory they work with also has high ethical, social and environmental standards.
Swedish Stockings: Recycled Material
All of their nylon stockings contain between 76% and 97% recycled nylon.
Their materials include Nilit® Ecocare yarn which is made of recycled nylon 6.6 (Polyamide). Retaining the same properties of virgin nylon this material is made from post-consumer sportswear waste.
They also use Econyl® 100% regenerated nylon 6.6 yarn (Polyamide). This is produced from carpet fluff and abandoned or spent fishing nets. It is estimated that producing the Econyl yarn raw material saves 170,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions compared to virgin nylon.
Swedish Stockings also produce some products from natural fibers.
Closing the Loop
Swedish Stockings are closing the loop by providing a recycling program. You can send them your old pantyhose, any brand, and they will make sure it is recycled properly. They cannot be made into new stockings currently because of the elastane that is mixed with the Nylon, a process they are working on.
The recycled material is used as filler in fiberglass tanks and to make their recycled table range. Each table contains recycled fiberglass and 80 to 350 pairs of recycled tights.
Certifications
- OEKO-TEX Standard 100
- Higg Index – Sustainable Apparel Coalition
- Global Recycled Standard
- REACH – compliant with the EU REACH regulation
- OHSAS 18001 – Occupational Health & Safety
- ISO 14001 – Environmental Management
- EU Ecolabel
Other Kudos
- Swedish Stockings are working to improve their processes, always looking for innovative and cleaner ways to make stockings.
- They use solar power and renewables to run their factories.
- The water they use during the dyeing process is purified after use, with 50% of it is reused.
- Swedish Stockings factories are zero waste.
- Read their Sustainability Edit 2018 here.
- Their factories are carefully handpicked by the founders to ensure their commitment to environmental issues and their employees.
- They have a transparent supply chain and do their best to keep distribution miles to a minimum.
- Their factory in Italy holds the same standards as they do, and they help their community through social initiatives like distributing food to the poorer and helping with addictions and rehabilitation.
- Waste is kept to a minimum by using leftover yarns to create samples.
- They provide a recycling program to help clean up the hosiery industry. You can send your old stockings or pantyhose to them no matter what brand and they will make sure they get recycled.
- Their packaging is sustainable too.
Have We Tried It?
I was thrilled when I came across Swedish Stockings. Not only was I sick of my stockings not lasting, but I wanted to find a brand that was making things different.
They are a little more expensive than some but totally worth it. I was looking to spend a bit more money to get a higher quality, the supermarket stockings I was buying were lucky to last one wear. I have been really happy with Swedish Stockings.
Recycled Products
