Manufacturing eco-friendly swim shorts from plastic debris recovered from the seas and oceans




Reducing ocean pollution and creating new products: two for the price of one
The Seaqual initiative was prompted by the fact that, every year, an estimated 12 million tonnes of litter end up in the sea, which means that, if, by 2025, nothing has changed, for every three tonnes of fish in our seas and oceans there will be one tonne of plastic. Seaqual is also the result of a desire to support Barcelona’s fishing community, confronted with increasing quantities of rubbish invading their nets, a situation made worse by bad weather. In response, the Spanish company has undertaken an immense clean-up programme, collecting marine litter from the sea-bed, the surface of the water, beaches and estuaries. Once sorted and cleaned, the plastic waste is recycled in Seaqual Initiative approved facilities, before being transformed into textile fibres from which beautiful, new, sustainable products can be made.

Rivea + Seaqual = From the sea for the sea!
With some 600 tons of waste collected from the oceans and 99 tons of waste transformed into recycled marine plastic, Seaqual is having a concrete impact in the fight against plastic pollution. Step by step, this eco-friendly initiative, based on a more virtuous business model, has led to the creation of an innovative, 100% post-consumer textile.

Stages
Collection
Collecting the waste is a huge endeavour, and the company therefore calls on a network of 400 fishermen, who collect waste from the sea-bed. Seaqual is also assisted by a number of individual initiatives, as well as NGOs and businesses, who, each according to their means, help to clean beaches, seas and oceans.
Sorting
Once the litter has been collected, it is sorted, and any plastic is separated from the other waste then cleaned and cut into flakes.
Transformation
The flakes are then turned into recycled marine plastic granules before being melted into threads, which in turn are woven into a high quality textile fibre boasting the same qualities as traditional polyester.
How we make our swimwear
Based on our patterns, the Seaqual fabric is sublimation printed before being cut up, after which our swim shorts are manufactured with skill and expertise by our partners in northern Portugal.


Rivea supports Oceaneye
We don’t stop at making almost 100% eco-friendly swimwear. We also support projects that we hold dear. So for every item of swimwear sold, we donate 1 Swiss franc to Oceaneye.
Oceaneye is a non-profit organisation founded in Geneva in 2010, with a twin objective: to fight plastic pollution, by informing the general public and raising their awareness of environmental issues, and to participate in scientific research, by collecting and analysing samples of water taken from the surface of the oceans. Through this dual, educational and scientific, approach, Oceaneye wants to encourage governments and businesses to do everything possible to reduce plastic pollution. Rivea supports Oceaneye’s activities by donating 1 CHF to the organisation for every item of swimwear sold.
Find out more about Oceaneye:www.oceaneye.ch