Yoga Mat Recycling Initiative

Manduka partners with SuperCircle to launch industry’s first end-of-life programme for yoga mats

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What happens to yoga mats when they are no longer required? Now, there’s an answer! Global yoga mat brand Manduka has teamed up with SuperCircle, the textile recycling platform, to launch what is thought to be the first responsible end-of-life yoga mat programme in the market, closing the loop for yoga mat production and manufacturing.

On November 15, starting in the USA, customers will be able to start recycling any yoga mat, in any condition, at manduka.supercircle.world. With a prepaid label accessible through the site they can send in any pre-loved yoga mat and receive a 20% discount off their next Manduka purchase. Mats will then be responsibly recycled into component parts, ensuring nothing is ever sent to the landfill or abroad.

“The rise in participation of yoga and meditation has created a demand for more sustainable consumption and disposal practices in the yoga retailer space,” said Pamela Levine, CEO, Manduka. “For over 25 years Manduka has pushed boundaries in sustainable innovation through sourcing, manufacturing and Lifetime Guaranteed durability, leaving behind the smallest footprint we can with our products. Now, we are solving the end-of-life challenge for yoga mats, keeping them out of landfills where they can take 100-plus years to break down creating further damage to our planet.”

Depending on the material composition of the yoga mats traded in, some mats will be componentry-to-componentry recycled, the gold-standard in recycling — where mats are processed into their component parts, such as rubber and EVA, and utilised in new products, including yoga mats and more.

Those that cannot be componentry-to-componentry recycled will be open-loop recycled into best-in-class upcycling or downcycling projects with a strict 5-plus year extension-of-life minimum, becoming things like rubber mats and resurfacing material for new construction projects.

“We are delighted to partner with Manduka on the first nationwide yoga mat recycling programme, a huge step forward towards our aim of diverting 1 billion-plus textiles from landfills by 2030,” said Chloe Songer, co-founder and CEO of SuperCircle.

“It’s an honour to do so with Manduka, a brand synonymous with sustainable innovation, and with their vast yoga community, who we are excited to engage in a programme that allows us all, in line with the ethos of the practice, to take individual action for collective impact.”

To learn more visit manduka.supercircle.world.