Innovation in Sustainable Supply Chain: LooptWorks

Enlarge Image

Looptworks cofounders Scott Hamlin (left) and Gary Peck set out to build a company that would make products out of waste.

Looptworks is definitely on the national radar.

Last year, Oprah Winfrey gave a nod to one of Looptworks’ laptop sleeves in O Magazine. Al Gore is on record as a fan of the business. Fast Company has come calling twice since the company launched in 2009 and even the Wall Street Journal gave Looptworks some love this fall.

And yet the barely two-year-old company retains a relatively low profile in its hometown of Portland.

Looptworks’ goals are unabashedly lofty. The company is out to turn a supply chain upside down, eliminating waste by putting it to good use. The company upcycles fabrics and other materials otherwise destined for the landfill and turns them into cleverly designed outdoor wear with an urban edge.

So why haven’t the greens of Portland embraced Looptworks? Scott Hamlin, Looptworks cofounder, is working under the theory that Portland is a tough audience.

Looptworks isn’t recycling food cart takeout boxes, after all. The company is active in Asia where the textile industry is based. Its materials are mostly sourced from the waste stream there, and its designs are manufactured there as well. “What’s so sustainable about overseas operations?” is a question Hamlin often encounters.

“If people get through the process of being suspect and start to listen, they start to get engaged in the conversation,” Hamlin said.

While the rest of the industry is worried about recycling and reducing post-consumer waste, Looptworks is wrestling with a problem that Hamlin contends is much larger: pre-consumer waste.

As a result, the company operates differently than its counterparts in the apparel industry. Instead of creating designs and going out to find the textiles to make them with, Looptworks finds what’s available and designs a product to match.

“It takes the design process and turns it upsidedown. We call it the Mr. Potato Head process,” Hamlin said.

View all SBO award winners | See photos from the event

It creates some flexibility — a 12-week turnaround to bring a new product to market versus an industry average that’s closer to 52 weeks — but also raises challenges. Each product has a limited run, making it tough to work with some retailers that need to be able to stock large amounts of identical items.

It hasn’t been a problem for Jim Williams at the University of Oregon Bookstore manager.

UO started carrying Duck-emblazoned Looptworks T-shirts this year.

“The products sell through very well and the design is great,” Williams said. “We understand the limitation but the upcycling concept is powerful. It resonates well with our students.”

It also wasn’t a problem for Patagonia which this year started selling Looptworks items in its stores.

With just five employees, in addition to Hamlin and his cofounder Gary Peck — both industry veterans, Looptworks has evolved from a small online store to a growing brand — the company declines to share specific revenue figures — with more and more of its products showing up on store shelves.

Looptworks’ innovation around its supply chain doesn’t necessarily fit into the traditional definition of a sustainable supply chain which emphasizes transparency and traceability.

The material Looptworks is diverting from the landfill sometimes can’t back tracked back to its original source — a black mark in traditional supply chain sustainability rating systems.

“If can’t track back fabric, we don’t pass the test but it’s still better to use it than to throw it away,” Hamlin said.

And Looptwork’s upcycling ethic is starting to spread. The company is constantly fielding requests from other companies about using their waste.

“I’ve had people come in here and dump material on this table and say, ‘Can you do anything with this?’” Hamlin said.

One unlikely partnership that sprung out of such a conversation is between Looptworks and Vestas. The wind energy giant, which has its North American headquarters in Portland, wraps its turbine blades in a durable plastic-based material for shipping and was looking for a way to make use of it once the turbines reach their destination.

In a partnership with Looptworks, the wrappers will find a second life as reusable grocery bags manufactured in Portland.

@SustainableBzOR | christinawilliams@bizjournals.com | 503.219.3438