BRUNSWICK

Atayne LLC, which makes sportswear exclusively from recycled materials, has been named one of the planet’s 67 ecologically “best” companies for 2013.

The Brunswick-based apparel maker received the award from B Lab, a nonprofit company founded in 2006 to “assess and encourage environmentally friendly commerce.”

B Lab — with four offices across the country and headquarters in Wayne, Pa. — evaluates global companies annually and publishes a list of those meeting its criteria for producing sustainable goods through Earth-friendly processes.

Businesses of all sizes are considered, from those with 50 or more employees to “microbusinesses” with fewer than 10, as in Atayne’s case.

The “best” companies score in the top 10 percent after an evaluation process examining business practices, and the impact a business has on its stakeholders, community and environment.

Atayne has been a certified “B Corporation” since 2008. But when he learned that Atayne had made the list for 2013, company founder Jeremy Litchfield said it was a vindication of sorts that the small but growing business is on the right path.

“To get B-certified is a rigorous process whch includes a pretty extensive audit of your entire operation,” Litchfield said. “We’ve continually managed to improve our score every year until, finally, we were named to the ‘Best’ list.”

Atayne’s operations span the East Coast, from Maine to North Carolina, with most of the day-to-day decisions made in Brunswick.

Most of its local sales are to events and races, such as the “Race the Runway” halfmarathon in Brunswick, the Dempsey Challenge, Urban Run-Off in Portland and, coming up May 12 in Biddeford, the revived Maine Coast Marathon — the first time that race has been run in more than 20 years.

All of Atayne’s clothing is made from recycled polyester that is collected, processed and remanufactured in the United States.

For every 1,000 Atayne products purchased, more than 6,700 plastic bottles are kept out of U.S. landfills — that’s instead of the same number of “conventionallymade” garments being produced overseas, Litchfield said,.

Other companies that made the 2013 “Best” list include:

— Piedmont Biofuels, a community-scaled operation in North Carolina that collects used cooking oil from restaurants for recycling into cleaner- burning biodiesel.

— Greyston Bakery Inc., of New York, which provides brownies used in Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and has an open-hiring policy of providing jobs to people regardless of their work history.

— Quetsol, in Guatemala, which provides solar power to “off-grid” communities.

— Little Pickle Press, a California-based publisher of children’s media.

— Greater Richmond Grid, a free-distribution magazine in Virginia which publishes “upbeat news and resources” to its readers.

Other superlative lists are due to be published this year, including “Best for the Community” and “Best for Workers.”

“For us, it’s one thing to say we’re doing all these great things for the community and the environment, but for a third party to evaluate us and say the same things, that’s when it means something,” Litchfield said.

jtleonard@timesrecord.com

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