Arc’teryx takes another step in its ongoing commitment to sustainable design with the launch of a recommerce program called Rock Solid Used Gear.
Rock Solid Used Gear is a repurposing hub designed to keep excellent products in service as long as possible – and to lighten the company’s environmental footprint. Arc’teryx will buy back used gear in good condition, clean and repair products with plenty of life left, and resell the items at a lower cost. The prolonged lifecycle allows customers to access supremely technical gear for less while also minimizing the brand’s environmental footprint.
“At Arc’teryx, we are more than designers – we are agents for change, leaning into hard problems and applying a process and ethos that creates possibility,” said Jon Hoerauf, Arc’teryx General Manager and President. “We are framing sustainability as a design problem. Strictly focusing on building leading gear is no longer an option for us—we must apply the same design ethos to solving problems of broader social and environmental relevance. Great gear should be able to last through multiple users, and Rock Solid Used Gear is our solution.”
As part of the Rock Solid Used Gear program offered in the U.S., customers can bring used gear into local Arc’teryx stores or use the online mail-in portal to start the trade in process. The gear will then be assessed and gear that is deemed as lightly worn to excellent condition, with the inner label still attached, will be eligible to receive a gift card of 20 percent of the product’s original retail price.
Any items that cannot be resold, but are still functional, will be donated to organizations with outdoor programs that need gear. The brand is exploring circular solutions such as repurposing and upcycling for items that have reached the end of their useful life and cannot be repaired to a functional state. The Rock Solid Used Gear program will also allow customers to trade in products for different sizes or colors as their lives and preferences change.
“Our company’s origins are in innovative design thinking to solve industry challenges,” said Drummond Lawson, Arc’teryx Director of Sustainability. “We apply this same mentality to environmental problems. Our products are built to last but, to keep them in service as long as feasible, we realized that our business models also needed innovation. Rock Solid Used Gear is the result—a platform that gets more users into great gear—and helps lower the footprint of our company by spreading the impact of producing our gear over many more days of use.”
More information about Arc’teryx and how the brand is fueling a circular economy through the Rock Solid Used Gear program can be found at rocksolid.arcteryx.com.
