Arc’teryx System 0: Redefining Circularity in High-Performance Outdoor Gear

Arc’teryx Unveils System 0 to Tackle Outdoor Apparel Waste

First observed by Chief Creative Officer Katie Becker at a trade show in 1998 with the Alpha jacket, the brand has historically focused on solving technical design challenges from the ground up.

According to Becker, the company spent four years exploring how to approach circularity while maintaining its existing performance standards.

“We have people that love our product that have been wearing the same jacket for 12 years, 15 years,” Becker said. “And we really started to look at what does responsibility really mean? How do we build it to repair it? What are we doing about end of life?”

Designing the Sperro SV Hardshell for Circularity

The first product emerging from System 0 is the Sperro SV, a waterproof shell designed to meet rigorous technical demands while incorporating recyclable materials.

According to Alex Plante, VP of Advanced Concepts, the development team avoided treating circularity as an isolated sustainability project, choosing instead to use the hardshell as a proof point for a broader system.

“We knew that circularity wasn’t going to be about a product alone,” Plante stated. “We knew that a product needed to be created, because that’s what we make, but it needed to be a product that was a proof point for a new system that we wanted to drive forward.”

Early prototypes of the jacket pushed recyclability further by entirely removing zippers, which traditionally present major challenges during garment recycling. However, testing with athletes and professional users revealed that the modification stripped away necessary functionality.

“It was sustainable, but it didn’t make sense,” Becker explained, reinforcing that performance could not be sacrificed for the sake of recyclability.

Material Innovation and Chemical Recycling Partnerships

To build a three-layer laminate using post-consumer waste, Arc’teryx collaborated with industry partners including Aquafil, GORE, and Toray, according to Andrew Yip, Senior Director of Materials in Advanced Concepts.

Aquafil supplies recycled nylon produced through chemical recycling rather than mechanical methods. Yip noted that mechanical recycling melts materials down and can reduce quality over time, comparing it to refrozen melted ice cream.

In contrast, chemical recycling breaks nylon down into its original components to rebuild a material with performance closer to the original material.

Because a completely mono-material jacket required too many compromises in durability, the Sperro SV retains separate components such as zippers and reflectors that require distinct end-of-life handling. According to Yip, the design ensures those parts can be removed and processed efficiently.

Additional choices, such as utilizing black zipper teeth, were implemented to avoid the extra manufacturing waste created by colour changes.

Leveraging Repair Networks and Rigorous Testing Standards

The initiative draws insights from ReBIRD, the company’s existing repair programme based in Vancouver, which allows designers to examine worn components and common failure points from returned gear.

“We were able to learn and understand how people use our hardshells,” Plante said. “We were able to learn what breaks first, what people loved about them, so that we could design out failure points right from the very beginning.”

System 0 products underwent laboratory testing, including placement inside a cement mixer with gravel to simulate heavy abrasion, alongside tests tracking human oil contamination on waterproof membranes.

Professional users, including search and rescue teams, also tested the gear, influencing details like the inclusion of additional pockets for medical equipment.

Ultimately, Arc’teryx intends to use its repair network to track when products are ready for recycling, helping to solve the widespread industry challenge of collecting and sorting old textiles.