Adidas highlighted its achievement of now employing 96 per cent recycled polyester for its products in anticipation of the 2023 Earth Day. In 2017, the goal of replacing all virgin polyester with recycled polyester by 2024 was set, and it now appears that it may be accomplished quicker than anticipated.
After employing recycled materials to make the first pair of its high-performance sneakers in 2015, Adidas has been working to reduce its dependency on virgin polyester.
A target of 90 per cent recycled polyester was attained in 2021. A total of 390,000 metric tonnes of CO2e would have been released if this volume had been made of virgin polyester, which is equal to the amount of greenhouse gases released by the power used by 50,000 US families.
In this context, Adidas created a short film that showcases the brand’s development and future goals and includes athlete Jazmin Sawyers.
Viviane Gut, senior director of sustainability at adidas, said in the press release: “In 2017, Adidas made a commitment to replace virgin polyester with recycled wherever possible by 2024, and we know that it is important that we continue to share our progress and deliver against that commitment. But while we are proud, this is a step, not a solution. There is still much more that we want, and need, to achieve so we can become a bigger part of the solution than the problem. We are as motivated as ever to keep innovating and collaborating to create new possibilities.”
Beyond recycled polyester, future plans will also include three primary areas of focus: altering materials by experimenting with and scaling up new raw materials, rethinking entire production processes to create products with a circular end-of-life solution, and lowering carbon footprint.
