FAQ: Loop by the Yard
How Do I recycle Loop?
Place your scraps and cuttings of material in the prepaid envelope or your unwanted DIY product and seal the envelope. Deposit it at any U.S. Postal service office or drop box. How is Loop made?
According to Dupont’s website (the manufacturer of the raw material for Loop): High-Density PolyEthylene(HDPE) fibers are spun and then bonded together by heat and pressure without any binders. The result is a non-woven material where the filaments do not have a prescribed direction. Instead they are randomly and evenly distributed before being bonded. The raw material used to make the non-woven is virgin HDPE that is extruded into the thin filaments, however being made from a single material allows it to be more easily recycled. What is the environmental impact of Tyvek (Loops raw material)?
Tyvek is made from High-Density PolyEthylene(HDPE) a polyethylene thermoplastic made from petroleum. It takes 1.75 kilograms of petroleum (in terms of energy and raw materials) to make one kilogram of HDPE. HDPE is commonly recycled, and has the number “2” as its recycling symbol. Though Tyvek superficially resembles paper (for example, it can be written and printed on) it is plastic, it cannot be recycled with paper. And despite the fact that some Tyvek products are marked with the #2 resin-code for HDPE, it is not usually collected with plastic bottles as part of municipal curbside recycling programs. Instead, DuPont runs a program in the United States where disposable clothing, coveralls, lab coats, and other Tyvek disposable garments can be recycled, as well as providing a mail-in recycling program for envelopes. (Source: wikipedia.org) Our environmental goal at MIO is to use Tyvek’s existing recycling infrastructure as a test bed to develop a take-back program for products for our company. The materials flexibility in terms of applications, durability, potential for re-use and existing recycling infrastructure are the main environmental attributes that we were interested when developing Loop By The Yard. What are the environmental attributes of Loop?
Loop By The Yard is designed as the first of its kind product-service-system. It blends a Do-It-yourself material with an existing recycling infrastructure and a FREE system to recycle the material into a resource loop. This system approach to design is not common today and is especially difficult to achieve for smaller organizations. MIO is taking on the challenge and identifying the opportunities in the system to apply them to future developments. Can I return scraps that have stitching, glue and other materials attached or fastened?
Ideally you should remove any hardware, stitching or adhesive from Loop, but limited amounts of stitching or adhesive are acceptable for recycling. If you are unsure about a material that was bonded or attached to Loop please email or call us. What are the applications with the least amount of environmental impact?
Loop should be used for applications that require a durable textile-like material with a medium to long life span. The application should match the products durability and limit the products return to the time when the material has lost its ability to perform in its given application. For instance if you plan on using Loop for gift-wrap, it should be re-usable gift wrap. If you want to use it as tablecloth it should also be re-usable. In general terms, if you would use a textile for it, then you can use Loop for it to great effect. Is Loop water-proof? Can it be used outdoors?
Yes! Loop is water proof and can be used in applications where water is involved such as ponchos, raincoats, bags, tents, etc. How do I clean Loop?
We do not recommend machine washing Loop. However Loop may be cleaned with water and mild soap or non-toxic cleaning agents.
Place your scraps and cuttings of material in the prepaid envelope or your unwanted DIY product and seal the envelope. Deposit it at any U.S. Postal service office or drop box. How is Loop made?
According to Dupont’s website (the manufacturer of the raw material for Loop): High-Density PolyEthylene(HDPE) fibers are spun and then bonded together by heat and pressure without any binders. The result is a non-woven material where the filaments do not have a prescribed direction. Instead they are randomly and evenly distributed before being bonded. The raw material used to make the non-woven is virgin HDPE that is extruded into the thin filaments, however being made from a single material allows it to be more easily recycled. What is the environmental impact of Tyvek (Loops raw material)?
Tyvek is made from High-Density PolyEthylene(HDPE) a polyethylene thermoplastic made from petroleum. It takes 1.75 kilograms of petroleum (in terms of energy and raw materials) to make one kilogram of HDPE. HDPE is commonly recycled, and has the number “2” as its recycling symbol. Though Tyvek superficially resembles paper (for example, it can be written and printed on) it is plastic, it cannot be recycled with paper. And despite the fact that some Tyvek products are marked with the #2 resin-code for HDPE, it is not usually collected with plastic bottles as part of municipal curbside recycling programs. Instead, DuPont runs a program in the United States where disposable clothing, coveralls, lab coats, and other Tyvek disposable garments can be recycled, as well as providing a mail-in recycling program for envelopes. (Source: wikipedia.org) Our environmental goal at MIO is to use Tyvek’s existing recycling infrastructure as a test bed to develop a take-back program for products for our company. The materials flexibility in terms of applications, durability, potential for re-use and existing recycling infrastructure are the main environmental attributes that we were interested when developing Loop By The Yard. What are the environmental attributes of Loop?
Loop By The Yard is designed as the first of its kind product-service-system. It blends a Do-It-yourself material with an existing recycling infrastructure and a FREE system to recycle the material into a resource loop. This system approach to design is not common today and is especially difficult to achieve for smaller organizations. MIO is taking on the challenge and identifying the opportunities in the system to apply them to future developments. Can I return scraps that have stitching, glue and other materials attached or fastened?
Ideally you should remove any hardware, stitching or adhesive from Loop, but limited amounts of stitching or adhesive are acceptable for recycling. If you are unsure about a material that was bonded or attached to Loop please email or call us. What are the applications with the least amount of environmental impact?
Loop should be used for applications that require a durable textile-like material with a medium to long life span. The application should match the products durability and limit the products return to the time when the material has lost its ability to perform in its given application. For instance if you plan on using Loop for gift-wrap, it should be re-usable gift wrap. If you want to use it as tablecloth it should also be re-usable. In general terms, if you would use a textile for it, then you can use Loop for it to great effect. Is Loop water-proof? Can it be used outdoors?
Yes! Loop is water proof and can be used in applications where water is involved such as ponchos, raincoats, bags, tents, etc. How do I clean Loop?
We do not recommend machine washing Loop. However Loop may be cleaned with water and mild soap or non-toxic cleaning agents.
