What is NetPlus®?

Big Agnes is always looking for new meaningful ways to reduce our impact on the environment. One way that we like to make an impact is making intentional choices with the materials that go into our products. The consumer goods industry produces a significant amount of waste, and Big Agnes is committed to reducing our footprint as much as we can.

For our 2025 season, Big Agnes is excited to partner with Bureo NetPlus® on our Fly Creek UL Sleeping Bag + Quilt series. NetPlus® is a material made of 100% post-consumer recycled Nylon from discarded fishing nets. This innovative material reduces one of the most harmful forms of ocean pollution while empowering fishing communities around the world. We designed our new Fly Creek UL Sleeping Bag and Quilt to feature a shell and liner completely made of NetPlus® fabric. 

Where are the Fishing Nets Sourced? 

Bureo works with fishing communities in Chile, Peru, Panama, Argentina, Ecuador, Mexico, U.S.A, Seychelles, and Japan to collect worn-out fishing nets. The nets are collected through an incentivized recycling program, which pays fishermen directly or provides donations to environmental non-profits. Since their first net collection program in Chile in 2013, BUreo has collected 14 million lbs of end-of-life fishing nets for recycling. 

Coastal fishing communities are disproportionately impacted by climate change. Shoreline erosion, sea level rise, more intense and frequent weather events. and marine pollution have a significant impact on the safety, health, and livelihoods of coastal communities. By incentivizing collection, Bureo is creating local employment opportunities, improving waste infrastructure, and supporting healthier coastal communities. 

How is NetPlus® Fabric Made? 

Across the 8 countries mentioned, there are 10 hubs that function as collection points for used fishing nets from 43 communities. Once collected, nets are locally sorted, cleaned, and shredded before going to a recycling facitliy. Through an advanced depolymerization process, the nets are broken down and formed into NetPlus® nylon pellets. These pellets are then extruded into a variety of high-quality yarns, which can be woven into speciality fabrics, such as the fabric in your Fly Creek Sleeping Bag.

What’s so special about NetPlus® compared to other recycled fabrics?

 First, let’s dig into some background information about recycled fabric. Recycling can be classified as pre-consumer recycling (i.e. never made into a finished product; waste from industrial production) or post-consumer recycling (i.e. recycled after a consumer has used a product until the end of life). Both pre- and post-consumer recycling are important ways to reduce waste in the rapidly expanding consumer goods industry. Compared to production waste, post-consumer waste is typically much more difficult to recycle - it requires more extensive cleaning, sorting, and processing before it can be made into anything new.  

Fishing nets are a uniquely impactful post-consumer source for Nylon. When abandoned or improperly disposed of, fishing nets can entangle sea life, form microplastics (which can often make their way into human food sources), and interrupt delicate marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs. In the past, fishing nets have often been abandoned at sea rather than properly disposed of. Proper disposal often required fishermen to incur unrealistic logistics and costs. Bureo’s Incentivized collection gives fishermen a tangible reason to recycle their nets and indirectly helps to maintain the livelihoods of disproportionately impacted communities by maintaining healthier marine ecosystems.

How else does NetPlus® help the environment?

In addition to the benefits above, NetPlus® is a significantly “greener” way of producing high-performance fabrics. Compared to a virgin (or newly produced) nylon of the same type, NetPlus® production reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, water consumption by 70%, fossil fuel consumption by 67%, and energy consumption by 68%.

Let's look at the environmental impact of this choice on a larger scale. Big Agnes has incorporated about 2,882 lbs of discarded fishing net into our Spring 2025 production. A swap from virgin nylon fabric to NetPlus® fabric reduces material emissions by ~2,000 kilograms of CO₂ equivalent (driving a car for about 5,000 miles at 22.2mpg), reduces fossil fuel consumption by about 155,585 megajoules (the equivalent of 1,179 gallons of gas), reduces our energy consumption by about 46,559kWh (for reference, the average American home uses ~10,500kWh per year [this could provide power to 4+ average American homes for a year]), and reduces our water usage by about 488,980 liters (the average person drinks about 1,095 liters per year, this could provide 477 people with enough drinking water for a year).

Let’s make it a bit more personal:

Each customer who purchases a Fly Creek UL 25 or Fly Creek UL Quilt is helping recycle about .5lbs of fishing net waste. To put this in context, the weight of fishing net prevented from potentially ending up in the environment is equal to about 34% of a Fly Creek sleeping bag or 47% of your Fly Creek Quilt.

Big Agnes selects unique sustainable materials so you, as the consumer, can enjoy high-quality, innovative gear while making a meaningful difference in the health of our planet. With Big Agnes, sustainability meets innovation to empower our customers.