Tyvek® is a lightweight, protective material used in numerous applications.  It’s unique properties help ensure medical device packages remain sterile, provide personal protection equipment for people in hazardous or sterile environments, and protect homes from rain and other weather effects during construction.

Thanks to the material’s durability and ubiquity, DuPont has been innovating for decades to enable Tyvek® recycling pathways, such as our Tyvek^® takeback program.

Plastics currently represent about 12 percent of all municipal solid waste in US landfills, resulting in the lost value of reusable materials, the potential introduction of micro- and nano-plastics into water supplies and food chains, and eventual pollution and risks to public health.

With this global challenge in mind, Tyvek® has partnered with drainage systems specialist ADS to give Tyvek® production scrap a second life. Each year, ADS recycles over half a billion pounds of plastic waste and converts it into raw material for infrastructure projects. ADS uses the recycled Tyvek® in highly engineered drainage products and services that go underground to service cities and farmland, lasting up to a century.

ADS has confirmed that the drainage products from recycled materials perform just as well as those produced from 100% new raw material. Our ongoing partnership with ADS has led to production outfall from Tyvek® manufacturing processes being used by ADS customers for a broad array of applications – from safely pre-treating and managing stormwater runoff to helping developers and property owners harvest rainwater.