Specialty Fabrics Review September 2022 - 82

[ MARKETS ] PRODUCT TRENDS
tarps and covers
F
In with the old,
out with the new
Companies are upcycling old
tarps and plastic coverings
to reduce landfill waste and
create new products.
by Jeff Moravec
or several years now, there has been growing interest in the
tarps and covers industry in becoming more eco-friendly-
and in recycling in particular. However, when it came time
to actually implement recycling programs, action lagged behind
words. " To date, I am not seeing much focus on the recyclability
factor in our industry, " said one prominent tarp producer. " That
doesn't mean it isn't there; it's just that I haven't heard about it to
any great extent. "
A lot has happened in the last five years, though. Recycling
programs have increased, and those who have been at it for a
while are receiving some much-deserved attention. Here are three
companies that are finding innovative uses for old materials.
Transforming tarps to handbags
It's no secret that Europe and Asia are sometimes ahead of the U.S.
in recycling efforts. In the case of Freitag, which makes bags and
accessories from recycled truck tarpaulins in Zurich, Switzerland,
that may be simply because truck tarps are much more common
on its side of the Atlantic.
" In the U.S., you don't have these truck tarps on the road, " explains
Elisabeth Isenegger, the company's head of communications. " We
have soft and colorful truck tarps, not the metal-based hard covers. "
From the time Markus Freitag first dragged an old tarp into
his apartment in 1993 and made a bag from it, Freitag has opened
29 retail stores, partnered with 300 resellers, and established a
robust, worldwide online market, boosted as of late by customers
attracted to the company's eco-friendly philosophy.
Freitag has a team of five people who work with European
logistics companies to find and collect the used tarps, from the
Netherlands to Portugal. " We try to collect as many and diverse
tarps as possible, " says Isenegger. " It's not only about getting a lot
of them, but also a mix of colors and designs so that we can upcycle
them into unique beautiful bags and accessories. "
After receiving the tarps (which the company pays for) Freitag
 Soft and colorful
truck tarps are the
standard in Europe,
and when they're
ready to be retired,
Freitag, based in
Zurich, turns them
into one-of-a-kind
bags and other
accessories.
Photos: Freitag
removes anything unusable, cuts them into manageable sizes and
washes them in recycled rainwater. A set of transparent molds is
then used to cut out the bags, each one unique.
" It can be hard to find tarps, " she adds. " One of the natural
bottlenecks in our business model is our concept that every bag
is individual-but logistically it is not always easy to
get enough diversity in the truck tarp pieces. But we really want
to offer a wide variety; it's what attracts our following. "
When Freitag first started, says Isenegger, many of its customers
favored the company's bags because they were unique, durable
and functional. That's changed over the years, though. " The
younger people have discovered the brand because they are
more focused on sustainability. That's the biggest reason why
they knock on our door. "
82 SPECIALTY FABRICS REVIEW / September 2022
Specialty Fabrics Review September 2022

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