GREENSBORO, North Carolina — May 9, 2013 — Unifi, Inc. (NYSE:UFI) and Herff Jones team up to make graduation greener with Renew Graduation gowns, made with REPREVE? recycled fiber. By the end of the 2013 graduation season, close to 440,000 students will graduate wearing these REPREVE based gowns, with over 12.7 million plastic bottles being recycled into these gowns since 2012. Each gown uses 29 plastic bottles.
More than 190 colleges and universities have chosen Renew Graduation gowns made with REPREVE, including University of Michigan, Syracuse University, George Washington University, Marquette University, John Hopkins University, Rutgers University and Winston-Salem State University, to name a few.
"Today less than 30% of plastic bottles are recycled in the U.S. and many consumers have no idea what happens to these bottles," said Roger Berrier, president and COO of Unifi. "It is our goal to create awareness around the importance of recycling bottles and the cool products that can be made from them. REPREVE is an essential ingredient that makes many everyday products sustainable, such as The North Face Denali jacket, Haggar's Life Khaki pants, the Ford Fusion seat fabric, and even Volcom T-shirts. Our REPREVE brand is now becoming part of the consumer's everyday life."
"As Herff Jones continues to strengthen its commitment to sustainability, REPREVE has been the perfect solution for our line of gowns," says Tom Carew, vice president and general manager of the Cap and Gown Division of Herff Jones. "Going into the August graduation time period, we will begin to offer universities with two different REPREVE based options, including the standard Renew ClassKeeper? gowns students purchase and the new EarthGrad? premium gowns that will be a part of our rental program. Both options are aligned with our core values in providing the schools with quality and environmentally conscious products."
