Global sports brand Puma has scaled up its textile-to-textile recycling innovation ‘RE:FIBRE’, creating millions of replica football jerseys from a minimum of 75% recycled textile waste.
Recycing plastic bottles to create polyester is nothing new – sportswear brands from Girlfriend Collective to TALA all do their bit for the planet by partaking in this practice. But, is the industry reliant on plastic botles to produce recycled polyester? Puma’s new initiative not only seeks to reduce textile waste but also to create less reliance on plastic waste.
To make the upscaling possible, the retailer is exploring diversified ways to recycle polyester – such as thermo-mechanical and chemical recycling.
The millions of jerseys build builds on the 46,000 RE:FIBRE produced in 2023.
Anne-Laure Descours, Chief Sourcing Officer at Puma, said: “RE:FIBRE gives football fans a tangible example of how PUMA is working towards creating a Forever Better.
“Our wish is to have 100% of our polyester products created from textile waste. Rethinking how we produce and moving towards a more circular business model is important and RE: FIBRE is central to that.”
To celebrate this milestone, Puma is hosting a weekend of activities in its New York flagship store, timed to perfection to coincide with the launch of the AC Milan and Manchester City home replica kits.