FLUFFED AND FEATHERED: BEDDING, INSIDE AND OUT, REVELS IN A TOTAL REVIVAL
2024/08/05
Hop Lion Feather Works Corp. The Sustainable Journey Of Down
Witnessing the willingness of multinational clients and users to regard recycled feathers as a sustainable
material, Hop Lion Feather Works Corp decided to initiate efforts in green production and consumption. It aimed to eliminate feather product waste by promoting recycling mechanisms, optimizing the recycled feather process,
and developing recycled feather products as part of a full circle feather solution.
The full-circle feather solution covers production, consumption, recycling, and regeneration. Since 2015,
Hop Lion has recycled a total of 123,000 used quilts, transforming discarded feathers, which would otherwise
have become large-scale waste, into recycled feather materials that meet Global Recycling Standards (GRS).
With its own brand "Health Life", the company not only sells feather products with a sustainable circular spirit
but also integrates RFID electronic tags into its designs. It adopts an eco-friendly and traceable textile management system (EcoT), providing each comforter and pillow with a unique serial number. This allows for easier engagement with the Total Care feather maintenance and cleaning service brand for post-sale cleaning or complete feather replacement, helping consumers extend the lifespan of feather products.
To scale up the full-circle feather approach in the future, continuous process optimization is necessary on the
production ends while shifting from manual to automated processes. Thus, the introduction and implementation of feather disassembly machines is imperative, accelerating the collection speed of recycled feathers and reducing the cost of obtaining recycled materials. Particularly in the Taiwanese market where there are more users of feather clothing than feather bedding, the design and development of disassembly machines can cater to both types of feather disassembly demands.
In 2023, Hop Lion Feather Works Corp. established the "REUSE Laboratory" to actively explore other possibilities for recycled feather applications by soliciting used feather quilts from consumers.