Portwest Planet at The Outdoor Shop

We’re serious about sustainability

PORTWEST HAS A TEN YEAR PLAN TO CONTINUE TO IMPROVE AND DELIVER EFFICIENCIES THAT WILL HELP LOWER OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT AND IT’S ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Portwest has developed clear and defined short and long-term sustainability goals, an initiative named Portwest Planet, It is Portwest's aim to respond meaningfully and take the necessary steps to address the ongoing threat of climate change.

At Portwest Ireland we continuously strive to introduce low-carbon and green initiatives by increasing resource efficiency and designing more sustainable products. In the past year we have taken a wide array of steps to help produce garments in a more environmentally friendly manner.

The Outdoor Shop Sustainability Strategy

At Portwest - The Outdoor Shop we too we have made changes to the way we do business; working to ensure we operate in the most environmentally friendly, sustainable, and ethical way possible as an Irish retailer.

With four stores along the Wild Atlantic Way, we pride ourselves on producing our own brand of exceptional outdoor clothing for almost 120 years. Charles Hughes founded Portwest in 1904 and our company is still owned and managed by the Hughes family in Westport. Although Portwest is renowned globally for our workwear and PPE we remain humble and proud of our heritage and our roots in the West of Ireland, The original store is still at business we continue to striving to become Ireland's favourite Outdoor Store.

Our mission is to inspire outdoor adventure and outdoor activities through accessible and affordable gear and outdoor clothing while maintaining a continuous focus on our customer's and employees’ experience. Our aim is to achieve this while minimising our environmental impact.

We have also made a commitment to a circular solution with the Clothing Recycling Initiative we launched in 2021. This involves sending unwanted garments, clothes and accessories to recycling experts where they will be used to create new garments via recycling.

Detailed below are the first steps in our strategy to make our own products more sustainable.

RECYCLING

• We have introduced a range of products made from recycled polyester. This fabric is produced by melting down used PET bottles which otherwise would have ended up in landfill and converting them into polyester yarn. These products are identified with the recycled icon in the catalogue or the bottle swing tag on the garment. Each garment will specify the approximate number of PET bottles equivalent to the recycled content.
• Portwest Outdoor Protection Range swing tags are made from responsibly sourced recycled cards which can be recycled after use.
• We are committed to the reduction of plastic to help combat the worldwide problem of single-use plastic waste and have a pathway in place to switch to a more sustainable version of garment polybags.
• Bags used for shipping online orders are made from 80% recycled plastic content.

REDUCING PLASTIC

• The Portwest Outdoor Protection range no longer uses silica gel sachets to protect goods from damage caused by moisture but instead uses DRI CLAY® sachets which are plastic-free, biodegradable, and chemical-free.
• All Portwest Outdoor Protection garments use hemp cords instead of plastic kibbles on products. Hemp cord is fully compostable and can be broken down naturally in domestic compost bins.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY 

• About one-fifth of the world’s cotton production comes from a region in the Far East where there are alleged human rights abuses. We have committed to only use cotton which is not sourced from this region.

HONESTY & TRANSPARENCY

• Portwest is committed to open and honest messaging on products with regard to sustainability and recycling. Products made from recycled content show on labels the exact percentage of recycled content used in the fabric construction, or the average number of PET bottles recycled to make the fabric on a swing tag on the product. We are sincere in our sustainability efforts and produce eco-friendly products in a transparent manner which is easy for the consumer to understand.

CIRCULAR SOLUTION

• Customers can drop any item of Portwest clothing or accessories into the Clothing Hoppers (located in the store)
• We send the contents to a central recycling point where they will be used primarily for future manufacturing of other garments, clothes and textiles via recycling. This is the primary and preferred route and is achieved when recycled materials are Wool, Cotton or Tencel.
• Any materials that cannot be recycled in this manner are instead used to create a range of products such as insulation and partition walls. 
• If the first two routes are not an option as the material cannot be recycled, it is made into chips and melted or used to generate energy as part of our recycling partner's "zero to landfill" policy.   

Our core values are reflected in everything we do at Portwest Planet. We ensure that we operate in a manner that is ethical and responsible so that you, our valued customer, can trust us in all aspects of your shopping loyalty experience

ECO-CONSCIOUS COLLECTION

Along side our own effort to use sustainable and recycled materials in the manufacturing and packaging of our garments, we also have made a conscious decision to work more closely with other brands who create sustainable clothing ranges and we showcase these in our Eco-Conscious Range