The German sporting goods provider Puma wants to avoid using recycled plastic in all fan jerseys of the football teams and associations they sponsor. From 2024 onwards, the brand’s fan items will be produced using the Re:Fibre textile recycling process, it was said on Tuesday from Herzogenaurach.
The Re:Fibre pilot project began with recycled training jerseys for Puma football teams. In the meantime, the material, which uses waste products from factory waste, defective goods and used clothing, has already been integrated into the fan jerseys of Switzerland and Morocco for the Women’s World Cup.
Starting next year, the materials for Puma’s fan jerseys, including those for the European Championships, will be made from the recycled material. This differs from other recycling technologies because it is a textile-to-textile process. Used clothing and production waste – from defective goods to worn clothing – is used instead of the plastic bottles often used for recycled polyester.
“We want to make 100 percent of the polyester for our products from textile waste,” says Anne-Laure Descours, Chief Sourcing Officer at Puma. “The volumes of textile waste in landfills pose an environmental risk. Therefore, new production methods and a business model that gives greater importance to the circular economy are among the priorities of our sustainability strategy.”