> Gore is working toward more sustainable waterproof/breathable materials
They are moving very slowly and it's hard to see it as more than greenwashing.
Modern Gore-Tex is effectively unrepairable (anything more than a small neat cut) and therefore unsustainable. These days it's 2 or 3 layers of plastic glued/bonded together, with extra glue/bonding along the seams, extra glue/bonding on fasteners and maybe even extra glue/bonding to other fabrics. It uses techniques requiring sophisticated manufacturing processes, which cannot be replicated at home, and Gore makes it difficult to buy Gore-Tex by the metre as a consumer even if you wanted to. Don't even think about sourcing specialist zippers if they break.
Yes, the outer face fabric may have a limited recycled content which companies like to focus on, but, like paper manufacturing, performance materials generally require some virgin material.
It is also all soaked in chemicals to prevent it actually needing to be Gore-Tex, only recently has there been a modest effort to use alternatives which don't shed fluorocarbons in use - even though they have been available for some time.
It works fairly well, but that performance relies a great deal on it not being eco-friendly.
The manufacturer downstream from Gore has a great repair service, but we've repaired GoreTex in the field with a GoreTex patch adhered with AquaSeal for larger tears and a drop of AquaSeal for pin-holes.
I agree that they could be doing a better job, as can we all.
They are moving very slowly and it's hard to see it as more than greenwashing.
Modern Gore-Tex is effectively unrepairable (anything more than a small neat cut) and therefore unsustainable. These days it's 2 or 3 layers of plastic glued/bonded together, with extra glue/bonding along the seams, extra glue/bonding on fasteners and maybe even extra glue/bonding to other fabrics. It uses techniques requiring sophisticated manufacturing processes, which cannot be replicated at home, and Gore makes it difficult to buy Gore-Tex by the metre as a consumer even if you wanted to. Don't even think about sourcing specialist zippers if they break.
Yes, the outer face fabric may have a limited recycled content which companies like to focus on, but, like paper manufacturing, performance materials generally require some virgin material.
It is also all soaked in chemicals to prevent it actually needing to be Gore-Tex, only recently has there been a modest effort to use alternatives which don't shed fluorocarbons in use - even though they have been available for some time.
It works fairly well, but that performance relies a great deal on it not being eco-friendly.