Bra Recycling

Here at Nudea, we know that in order to make way for all of your new supportive and sustainable underwear, it might be time to clear out that top drawer. Did you know the average woman is hanging onto about 20 bras but only actually wearing 5 on repeat? Does this sound like you? Then it might be time to say goodbye to some of those golden oldies. But before you head to the bin with a bundle of bras in tow, let’s talk about where they will end up and the impact this will have on the environment.

Donation centres don’t accept worn bras and there are over 30 different components to a bra, making them difficult to dispose of sustainably. It’s no surprise then that a staggering 19 million bras end up in landfill every year but it doesn’t have to be this way.

Say hello to Bra-cycling (bra recycling), see what we did there? This new scheme, recently launched with TerraCycle® via their Zero Waste Box™ solution, provides all Nudea customers with a way to consciously clean out their underwear drawers and keep their bras out of landfill for good.

Once your bra is with TerraCycle, the materials are sorted into base categories based on whether the material is rigid or flexible and what it’s made from e.g metal plastic and fibres.

Plastics

These materials are ground or shredded up and then the particles go through a melting process where they become a usable raw material for new product manufacturing.

Fibres

These are separated into natural and synthetic or combined. Natural fibres are converted into a material called “shoddy” which is used for insulation and product stuffing. Synthetics are turned into a densified material mixture which can be used for things such as carpet backing.

Metals

These materials are shredded, baled and smelted down to create a base material for items such as nuts, bolts and washers.