Patagonia Better Sweater Sustainability Report

Patagonia’s Better Sweater is well-built for long-term casual use. Its heavy fabric and clean construction resist damage, although pilling can occur on the knit exterior fabric. Though not suited for hard activity, it should easily last several seasons as a go-to around-town or camp layer.

Choosing durable outdoor gear is perhaps the most effective way to reduce environmental impact—the longer it lasts, the less it needs to be produced. Our proprietary longevity rating evaluates overall build quality based on factors such as materials, fabric denier, component durability (including zippers and toggles), real-world performance as reported by our field testers, and our experiences with the brand. Overall, we feel strongly that reducing overall consumption is a cornerstone of sustainability.

The Patagonia Better Sweater Fleece Jacket incorporates 100% recycled polyester in its main fabric, trims, and pocket linings. Patagonia is leading the outdoor industry’s transition from virgin materials to recycled alternatives. It uses recycled polyester, cotton, nylon, down, Spandex, TPU, and wool throughout its product line. In 2025, almost all of Patagonia's nylon- and polyester-based materials were made with recycled content, while over three-quarters of its wool, almost two-thirds of its down, and around a quarter of its cotton were made from recycled content. Almost 85% of its materials were “preferred,” meaning they have a lower impact than conventional materials.

Outdoor gear can be made partly or entirely from recycled materials, the most common being nylon, polyester, wool, and down. Some products include a single recycled component or a partially recycled fabric, while others are 100% recycled (generally excluding accessories like zippers, Velcro, toggles, etc.). For our sustainability ratings, we evaluate the amount of recycled materials in a particular product and assign points accordingly.

Patagonia has worked with Bluesign Technologies since 2000 to manage chemicals and reduce environmental impacts throughout its supply chain, making it the first brand to become a Bluesign System Partner. Currently, nine of Patagonia’s top 10 suppliers are Bluesign System Partners, meaning material production is held to strict environmental standards.

Bluesign Technologies, based in Switzerland, operates a third-party textile certification system that ensures materials are manufactured to strict environmental, chemical, and worker safety standards. A Bluesign-approved material indicates that it has undergone a rigorous vetting process based on the criteria above. A Bluesign Product goes the next mile, containing at least 90% Bluesign-approved fabrics and at least 30% Bluesign-approved accessories.

The Patagonia Better Sweater Fleece Jacket is manufactured in a Fair Trade Certified factory. Patagonia has worked with Fair Trade USA since 2014, and now offers more Fair Trade Certified products than any other apparel brand. Fair Trade Certified ensures that factories adhere to rigorous social and environmental standards, including fair wages, safe working conditions, and sustainable resource management. Brands also pay into Fair Trade Premiums, a fund owned by workers who collectively choose how to use the money to improve their communities. Currently, over 95% of Patagonia products are made in Fair Trade Certified factories, affecting 85,000 workers. Patagonia is also a founding member of the Fair Labor Association, which promotes and protects workers’ rights by establishing standards for fair wages and safe working conditions. Finally, Patagonia is Fair Labor Accredited, the result of a rigorous process involving comprehensive audits and a formal review of standards compliance every three years.

This criterion evaluates a brand's commitment to fair wages, safe working conditions, and reducing its environmental impact throughout the production process. Responsible manufacturing is most commonly demonstrated through certifications and membership in programs such as Fair Trade Certified, Fair Wear Foundation, Worldwide Responsible Accreditation of Production, and the Fair Labor Association. We also recognize brands that prioritize local production, such as those that manufacture primarily in the United States or Europe, to reduce carbon emissions, maintain better oversight of working conditions, and comply with strict social and environmental regulations.

All of Patagonia’s bags, boxes, and paper mailers are made from recycled paper or Forest Stewardship Council-certified materials, which are sourced from responsibly managed forests that protect ecosystems and reduce climate impact. Its product hang tags are hung with recycled paper strings, and most of them feature just a QR code in an effort to reduce paper waste. Additionally, all of Patagonia’s poly bags are made from recycled plastic certified to the Global Recycled Standard. The brand plans to phase out poly bags at its Reno distribution center in the near future.

Packaging can add significant waste to an outdoor gear purchase and often ends up in landfills. Many brands are using recycled packaging and/or making efforts to reduce packaging altogether. For example, they may use a certain percentage of recycled cardboard or make efforts to use less plastic or paper across their packaging operation. In some cases, brands also use Forest Stewardship Council-certified paper products, which helps to ensure sustainable sourcing of forest materials.

Patagonia has offered repair services since 1976, and in 2025, it repaired almost 175,000 products. Its Ironclad Guarantee covers repairs at any stage of a product’s life. Patagonia charges for shipping, but doesn’t charge for repairs (except for those that require highly technical work, such as fixing a wetsuit). Patagonia can fix minor issues in-store, while major repairs are taken care of at its repair centers. The brand also provides DIY tutorials online and ships repair tape or other materials as needed.

Repair services extend the lifespan of outdoor gear and reduce overall consumption. Some brands offer comprehensive repair programs that can fix a wide range of issues, while others have more limited capabilities. If a brand's warranty policy only covers replacement, rather than repair, these programs usually do not meet this criterion.

Worn Wear, Patagonia’s used-gear resale platform, launched in 2012. The platform allows you to trade in clean, functional gear for Patagonia store credit equivalent to around 20% of your item’s retail price. In 2025, Worn Wear received just over 137,000 pieces of gear, accounting for around 1% of Patagonia’s annual revenue. Patagonia also takes its clothes back for recycling if they have reached the end of their usable life; unfortunately, most of this gear is being indefinitely stored until better recycling solutions are developed.

Resale and recycling programs help keep outdoor gear in circulation for longer and out of landfills. The most common form is a trade-in program, where consumers can exchange items for store credit, which is then resold. Some brands accept products back for recycling at the end of their life, thereby reducing waste. Occasionally, some do both.

Patagonia started tracking its emissions in 2017, and set a Science Based Targets Initiative-verified goal to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 emissions (from owned operations and purchased electricity) by 80% and its Scope 3 emissions (from its supply chain, transportation, and materials) by 55% by 2030. In the long term, it aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040, which is one of the most ambitious net-zero targets among outdoor brands. Patagonia also uses an Environmental Profit and Loss metric to determine the carbon cost of every item produced. Unfortunately, Patagonia has yet to make progress toward reducing its absolute emissions; between 2017 and 2025, the brand’s total emissions increased by approximately 25%.

This criterion evaluates whether this brand measures its greenhouse gas emissions, along with its commitment to reduction and transparency in reporting. Typically, we require brands to follow established frameworks such as the Higg Index, Greenhouse Gas Protocol, or The Change Climate Project. Most companies use the widely recognized scope categorization system for measuring brand emissions. Those who earn the most points in this category have emissions reduction goals verified by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), a global organization that helps companies set greenhouse gas reduction targets in line with the goal of limiting global warming to well below 2°C. To verify their goals through SBTi, companies undergo a rigorous assessment process and continual follow-up to ensure consistent progress towards achieving their targets.

In 2025, Patagonia published its first Work in Progress Report, detailing its progress and challenges to implement sustainability initiatives across the company. Prior to 2025, Patagonia published a sustainability website with up-to-date, detailed information about its materials, chemicals, emissions, fair labor programs, and more. The Work in Progress report builds on this information, earning a place among the most comprehensive reports in the outdoor industry. It describes Patagonia’s circularity programs, low-impact material usage, PFAS phase-out, greenhouse gas emissions, activism programs, and charitable donations with ample statistics and stories, offering high transparency into the brand’s operations.

An impact report is an important step toward transparency and accountability on the sustainability front. These reports vary in form but generally cover topics such as material sourcing, greenhouse gas emissions tracking, waste and water usage, supply chain analysis, and packaging efforts. For our sustainability ratings, we evaluate this criterion based on the depth and quality of the information provided in the report, and how often it is produced. Some brands produce their own impact report, while others are published by their parent company. In practice, we’ve found that reports produced by individual brands include more detailed information about their sustainability efforts.