Update: Burton's Journey to Being PFAS Free
As a certified B Corp and a purpose-led brand, we strive to create the best products for our people, the planet, and our sport. Early on in our sustainability journey, we recognized that chemicals have an oversized impact on all aspects of our purpose-driven work. Because of this, we partnered with bluesign to ensure that we follow the strictest chemical standards in the industry. We are committed to staying on the cutting edge and to continue learning about this complex field.
Invented in the 1950s, PFAS, or per-/polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a complex large class of chemicals designed to provide water-, oil-, and soil-repellency qualities in consumer products. They have been used across nearly every product category, from rain jackets to food packaging, cosmetics to fire-fighting foam. They are prolific and persistent and are unable to break down in the environment through natural processes like sunlight, heat, or micro-organisms, hence the name “forever chemicals”. Science has demonstrated that these chemicals are harmful to life.
In 2014, we started investigating the connection between our performance treatments containing PFAS and the impact it was having on people and the planet. We got to work identifying where we could remove these treatments and source better alternatives. By 2016, we removed added PFAS in durable water-repellent treatments (DWR) from the majority of our products. In 2022, we increased our ambition to remove PFAS across all of our products and materials and by Winter 2023-2024 removed intentionally added PFAS from 82% of our products. By the current season, Winter 2024 – 2025, 96% of our products are free of intentionally added PFAS. Any remaining products that contain intentionally added PFAS are those where we couldn't find a non-PFAS, ePE membrane alternative that met our product and performance standards. For visibility to our customers, Winter 2024-2025 products that contain intentionally added PFAS will be labeled accordingly. Older season’s inventory that contains intentionally added PFAS will be identified on the product’s detail page and depending on state regulations, may not be permitted to be shipped into certain states. See below for examples of our on-product labels and labels on product pages on burton.com for reference. Next season, for Winter 2025 - 2026, our product line will be 100% free of intentionally added PFAS.
For more information about our approach to PFAS, please see individual product pages where we list information about PFAS where relevant and read here for more information on Burton's Clean Chemistry Strategy.
We believe in product performance, sustainable design, and continuous learning. We continue to push the boundaries of innovative, sustainable design while continuing to deliver high-quality products with strong technical performance. We set aggressive goals to ensure we continue to lead the industry and hold ourselves accountable through third-party standards. You can be confident that you are purchasing a product made with the well-being of people and the planet in mind.