Looptworks, a Portland based brand that works with companies to transform waste into beautiful new products, today is proud to announce its newest collaboration with Alaska Airlines. The Carry-On Collection will include a wallet, laptop sleeve, tote, crossbody and messenger bag, all made with repurposed seat leather from Alaska’s sister carrier Horizon Air. As a result of this collaboration, 4,000 leather seat covers have initially been kept out of the landfill as a part of this ongoing project. Horizon Air, the regional carrier for Alaska Airlines, replaces its seat covers periodically as a part of its maintenance procedures. The airline has chosen to partner with Looptworks in an effort to keep this high-quality leather in use for as long as possible. The entire product collection will be available for pre-order on December 8, 2015.
Looptworks has partnered with a non-profit in Oregon that employs and trains adults with disabilities to deconstruct and clean the leather, positively impacting the communities where Alaska Airline customers work and live. Once cleaned and prepped, the rehabilitated leather then meets the hands of locally skilled craftsmen in Washington and Oregon. The result is a collection of travel-inspired bags and other small items that keep the seat leather out of the landfill, while providing jobs in the local communities.
“Looptworks’ collaboration with Alaska Airlines is a perfect example of how we’re pushing the boundaries of closed-loop business,” notes Scott Hamlin, Looptworks’ founder. “Creating items from textile waste is an incredibly complicated process and often requires reversing the typical logistics and product manufacturing process.”
Hamlin said the cost of cleaning and deconstructing each seat is far outweighed by the cost to the environment from creating new materials. One pound of leather requires 2,109 gallons of water to create.
The textile industry is the second dirtiest industry in the world behind oil – we need innovation to change.
“Our mission is to inspire change both with shoppers and within our industry’s current manufacturing model, as it is still easier to create products from new materials as opposed to repurposing existing materials. The textile industry is the second dirtiest industry in the world behind oil – we need innovation to change.”
Looptworks is known for its unique product collaborations, having partnered with brands such as Patagonia, Southwest Airlines and Langlitz Leathers in the past. Looptworks looks at these collaborations as a way to bring increased awareness to the planet’s enormous textile waste problem and highlight solutions to the issue. The company’s motto is simple: use only what already exists.
“At Alaska and Horizon, we strive to integrate sustainability into all parts of the airlines,” said Jacqueline Drumheller, sustainability manager for Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air. “Our sister carrier Horizon set the industry standard when a handful of enterprising employees would drive truckloads of inflight recyclable trash to sorting facilities more than 25 years ago, Our partnership with Looptworks is an example of how Horizon employees are taking inflight recycling to the next level.”
