Adidas plans to use only recycled plastic by 2024

Global sportswear maker Adidas is promising to use only recycled polyester in all its shoes and clothing by 2024.

Adidas uses virgin polyester in a wide range of its products, from t-shirts to running shoes, because the material is lightweight and dries quickly. Adidas said its apparel line for the spring and summer of 2019 will contain approximately 40 per cent recycled polyester.

Germany-based Adidas also said it would stop using virgin plastic in its offices, retail outlets, warehouses and distribution centres, a move that it says would save an estimated 40 tons of plastic per year, starting in 2018.

Adidas’s move comes as more brands embrace recycled materials, as an anti-plastics movement is sweeping across North America, the UK, and Europe. A&W Canada recently announced that it plans to eliminate straws from its stores, and Starbucks has announced a global phase-out of plastic straws. McDonald’s is trialing a similar program in the UK and Ireland. Ikea, meanwhile, is phasing out single use plastic from its stores and restaurants.