Adidas aims to eliminate virgin polyester by 2024

Sportswear manufacturer adidas wants all its clothing and footwear products to use only recycled polyester, sportstextiles.com reports.

“Our goal is to get rid of virgin polyester overall by 2024,” Eric Liedtke, adidas’ head of global brands, told the Financial Times. He explained that, because of the volume of polyester used in the company’s footwear and apparel, the transition wouldn’t happen “overnight.” Additionally, he noted the price difference between recycled and virgin polyester as a main reason adidas expects to need until 2024 to complete the transition.

The brand has already been using recycled polyester derived from recovered marine plastics. The upcycled plastics have been incorporated in football jerseys, swimwear, apparel and a range of running shoes.

As part of the company’s commitment to using recycled polyester, adidas has set a goal of selling five million pairs of shoes made from recycled polyester this year and 11 million pairs in 2019. In comparison, in 2017 adidas sold one million pairs of Ultraboost Uncaged Parley trainers, which use recycled polyester.