Working to address the problem of marine plastic, YKK announces its new NATULON® Ocean Sourced™ collection of zippers made from ocean bound plastic. This premium collection of zippers is made from plastic waste that has been collected within 50 km of the coastline of Sri Lanka.

“NATULON® Ocean Sourced™ zippers offer the high quality that people expect from YKK while addressing the environmental crisis in our oceans,” said Takashi Tsukumo, Vice President, YKK Corporation Global Marketing Group. “Furthermore, the upcycling of ocean bound plastic into NATULON® Ocean Sourced™ zippers emits less CO² and requires less energy to produce than zippers made out of virgin polyester.”

Indistinguishable from zippers made of virgin polyester, NATULON® Ocean Sourced™ offers the same strength, durability, and functionality as conventional zippers. At the same time, NATULON® Ocean Sourced™ is helping YKK achieve its goal of further reducing carbon emissions in its manufacturing processes. Globally, YKK has achieved an 8% reduction in carbon emissions since 2013 at its production sites.

YKK’s collection of sustainable trims is aimed at reducing carbon emissions, toxic chemicals, and water use. In addition to NATULON® Ocean Sourced™, the collection features the GreenRise™ zipper, the first in the industry to use plant-based polyester, thereby achieving a 30% reduction in petroleum usage, YKK’s organic cotton zippers, and YKK’s original NATULON® zipper, which recycles approximately 3,600 plastic bottles (29 g/bottle) per 10,000 zippers (60 cm length). Also included in the collection are zippers made using YKK’s ECO-DYE® dyeing technology, which has completely eliminated the usage of water in the dyeing process, and environmentally friendly snaps and buttons made using Acro-Plating™, a new plating technology that uses fewer resources to manufacture and does not use harmful plating chemicals.