REPREVE®

Overview

UNIFI’s brand spans recycled polyester, nylon and related products. Waste streams and product specifications vary within the platform.

Feel and behavior

Depends on the specified fiber grade, yarn and fabric construction.

Where you find it

See the linked underlying material and the producer’s product-specific documentation.

Source and geography

REPREVE is a brand of Unifi, Inc., a yarn producer based in Greensboro, North Carolina, launched in 2007. Most REPREVE products are recycled polyester, poly(ethylene terephthalate), made largely from post-consumer PET bottles; the platform also includes recycled nylon and products made from textile and yarn waste. Unifi's plant at Yadkinville, North Carolina, converts bottles into REPREVE yarn, and a Reidsville facility handles bottle recycling, according to trade reporting.

Worth knowing

• Every REPREVE fiber is embedded with a proprietary tracer called FiberPrint, which Unifi uses to test products for genuine content.
• Unifi reports having recycled more than 46 billion plastic bottles into REPREVE fiber.

Types, grades and fabrics

Types and grades

REPREVE is a platform rather than one fiber. Its core products are recycled polyester filament yarns (flat and textured) and staple fiber, mostly from post-consumer PET bottles, plus REPREVE nylon. Unifi also markets REPREVE Takeback, which uses textile and yarn waste as feedstock, and REPREVE Our Ocean, promoted around plastic recovered before it reaches the sea; buyers should ask for Unifi's collection definition. Unifi states that all REPREVE products can be made with the CiCLO additive, sold as REPREVE with CiCLO technology, which it describes as making the polyester or nylon biodegrade faster in certain environments. Solution-dyed and functional variants exist, and deniers and filament counts follow ordinary polyester specifications.

Fabrics and products

REPREVE polyester appears in performance tees, fleece, running shorts and leggings, jackets and insulation, socks, and home textiles such as upholstery, bedding and carpets; staple fiber is used in batting and fill. REPREVE nylon targets hosiery, swimwear and activewear. Many products are blends, for example REPREVE polyester with cotton in T-shirts or with spandex in leggings, so the recycled share depends on the blend.

Buying and care

How to judge quality

Look for a REPREVE hangtag or label naming the percentage of REPREVE fiber, and check that the content label states polyester or nylon with a total. Unifi's U-TRUST verification tests fabrics and garments for its FiberPrint tracer, which it says is embedded in every REPREVE strand, so brands can have claims checked at resin, yarn, fabric or garment stage. Recycled PET is chemically identical to virgin PET, so hand and durability depend on yarn and fabric construction: dense knits, even dyeing, and minimal pilling after a test rub indicate a better fabric. 'Contains REPREVE' without a percentage is a weak claim.

Care in detail

Care is that of ordinary polyester or nylon. Wash at 30 to 40 C, inside out, with similar colors; cooler water, full loads and a wash bag or filter reduce microfiber release. Skip fabric softener on performance knits, as it blocks wicking and traps odor. Tumble dry low or line dry; high heat can glaze or distort thermoplastic fibers and damage any spandex. Iron polyester on a low to medium setting (about 110 to 150 C), never directly on printed or coated areas. Oil-based stains bind to polyester, so pretreat promptly with detergent. Pilling in staple fabrics can be removed with a fabric shaver.

Care at a glance

Follow the finished product’s care label. A trademark does not specify the care needs of every blend or construction.

Environmental and social footprint

Unifi reports cumulative figures of more than 46 billion bottles recycled and the equivalent of one billion T-shirts of textile and yarn waste turned into fiber; these are company figures. Mechanically recycled PET generally needs less energy than virgin PET, but most feedstock is bottles, so REPREVE is often described by critics as downcycling out of a food-grade loop. Microfibers are the main independent concern. In a 2024 study in Environmental Pollution (Akyildiz and colleagues), recycled polyester fabric released more microplastic fibers than comparable virgin polyester under the same 40 C washing conditions (about 1,193 versus 908 counted fibers). Claims of biodegradability for CiCLO versions should be read against the FTC Green Guides, which expect degradable claims to be qualified by conditions and timeframe.

Tradeoffs

Producer claims apply to defined products and comparisons. This atlas does not independently certify performance, sourcing or environmental claims.

A useful question to ask: Which exact grade, composition and current producer documentation apply to this product?

Science

Recovered material, retained chemistry

Recycled describes the feedstock history, not a new polymer family.

Structure and chemistry

Recycled PET is chemically the same polyester as virgin PET: a condensation polymer of ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid linked by ester bonds, with rigid aromatic rings that give stiffness, a glass transition well above room temperature and a crystalline melting range far above normal laundering temperatures. Mechanical recycling can shorten chains (lower intrinsic viscosity), which spinners compensate for by solid-state polymerization or blending. Filament cross-sections may be round or engineered; REPREVE fiber also carries Unifi's proprietary FiberPrint tracer additive.

From source to yarn

The bottle route is mechanical recycling: bottles are collected, sorted, labels and caps removed, and the PET is ground to flake, washed and dried. Flake is melted, filtered and extruded as chip or directly as filament, which is drawn and textured into yarn or cut into staple. A tracer, FiberPrint, is added during extrusion so that REPREVE content can later be detected, and Unifi's U-TRUST program tests finished goods for it. Unifi has also described work on fiber-to-fiber recycling of textile waste.

Performance in use

Performance matches conventional polyester: high strength that is nearly unchanged when wet, low moisture regain (well under 1%), quick drying, good dimensional stability after heat-setting, and resistance to many chemicals. It is thermoplastic and melts rather than chars. Dyeing requires disperse dyes at high temperature or with carriers because the dense, hydrophobic polymer lacks ionic sites. Pilling can be an issue in staple fabrics because strong fibers do not break away. Environmental comparisons published by Unifi are producer claims.

How it is identified

Burn tests are indicative only: polyester melts and shrinks from flame, burns with sooty smoke and a sweetish odor, leaving a hard bead. FTIR identifies PET. Recycled PET cannot be reliably told from virgin PET by routine methods; REPREVE content is instead verified by detecting Unifi's FiberPrint tracer through the U-TRUST program. Confusion arises when 'made with REPREVE' is read as meaning the whole garment is recycled.

History

Timeline

1. 2007Unifi, a textured-yarn maker in Greensboro, North Carolina, launched REPREVE recycled polyester made from yarn waste and post-consumer PET bottles. [1]

REPREVE expanded from recycled-fiber branding into multiple feedstock and product lines. FiberPrint and U-TRUST are associated traceability tools.

The deeper record

Unifi, a long-established North Carolina textured-yarn maker, launched REPREVE in 2007, using yarn waste and bottle-grade PET as feedstock. The brand grew into a prominent recycled-fiber ingredient name in apparel, supported by its own bottle processing in Yadkinville and by the FiberPrint tracer and U-TRUST verification. Its history mirrors the rise of bottle-to-fiber recycling, which diverts PET from landfill but does not close a textile loop; Unifi has since described efforts toward textile-to-textile recycling.

Labeling and law

REPREVE is a trademark, not a generic name. US labels must state polyester (or nylon) under the TFPIA and 16 CFR Part 303, and EU labels must use polyester or polyamide under Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011. Recycled-content statements must be substantiated and should state the share. Unifi's U-TRUST verification is a producer program; any independent recycled-content certification should be confirmed for the specific product.

This describes what rules and standards cover. It is not legal advice; jurisdiction, product form and current rule text control.

Frequently asked

What is REPREVE made from?

Mostly post-consumer plastic bottles, which are washed, flaked and melted into recycled polyester. Unifi also makes REPREVE nylon and lines that use textile and yarn waste. The label must still say polyester or nylon, and the REPREVE percentage should be stated.

How can I tell if a product really contains REPREVE?

Unifi puts a proprietary tracer, FiberPrint, into REPREVE fiber and offers U-TRUST testing to detect it in fabrics and finished goods. As a shopper you rely on the brand's hangtag and claims; brands can ask Unifi for verification.

Is recycled polyester better for the ocean?

Not at the washing stage. Recycled polyester is chemically PET and sheds persistent microfibers like virgin polyester; one 2024 study found higher release from a recycled fabric. Its benefits lie in feedstock and energy, not in end-of-life behavior.

Sources

• REPREVE: Official product information
• Unifi: REPREVE sustainability page
• Sourcing Journal (WWD): From bottles to blouses, inside Unifi's North Carolina Repreve factory
• NC State Poole College: Greensboro textile company rescues millions of bottles from landfill
• AMI: Scaling fiber-to-fiber recycling, UNIFI's vision for a circular textile future
• Unifi: Certifications (U-TRUST verification)
• Unifi investor news: REPREVE with CiCLO technology launch
• REPREVE: REPREVE Our Ocean
• Environmental Pollution: Release of microplastic fibers from synthetic textiles during household washing (Akyildiz et al., 2024)
• Federal Trade Commission: Green Guides

Cite this page

Chaos. (2026). REPREVE®. In Fibers of Earth: An independent textile atlas. https://www.hendrickresearch.com/fibers/materials/repreve/