42 WSA July/August 2017

WSA Sustainability: Adidas and Reebok

It is startling to think that in 30 years, therecould be more plastic in the oceans than fish.Researchers at the Ellen MacArthurFoundation have forecast that plasticsproduction will quadruple by 2050, when

the ratio of plastics pieces to fish could reach 1:1.Adidas is among the brands stepping up its

game in terms of tackling the problem. When itannounced its Parley for the Oceans initiative in2014, the shoe it then produced, made fromyarn from reclaimed plastic from the sea, wasonly a concept and it was unclear whether theidea would work commercially. However, lastsummer, the German group launched its firstmass-produced Parley design. UltraBoostUncaged Parley features an upper made from95% recycled ocean plastic with the rest of theshoe also made from recycled materials.

“Adidas teamed up with Parley to help spreadawareness and transform ocean plastic pollutioninto high performance sportswear, spinning theproblem into a solution,” says Eric Liedtke, headof brands at adidas. “We have already taken thefirst steps to reduce and ultimately eliminatevirgin and single-use plastic from our products.In doing so, we have shown that it is possible,and that people care – but now we mustaccelerate and scale.”

Adidas turned to Aquafil for its Parley Swimrange, launched in February. The Italy-basedtextile company has been supplying yarns made

from ocean waste for more than four years, withEconyl manufactured from discarded fishingnets. In that time, hundreds of tonnes of netshave been recycled into new polyamide, withReebok, Finisterre, Speedo and Volcom amongthe brands making swimwear ranges from theyarn. In June, designer Stella McCartneyintroduced a range of bags made with Aquafiland Gucci is also among users.

Total rethinkA graphic illustration of the severity of the

problem of ocean plastic has come from a paperpublished by the National Academy of Sciencesin the US. Researchers visited the uninhabitedHenderson Island in the South Pacific and found671 items of plastic debris per square metre.They estimated the total amount at 37.7 millionitems weighing 17.6 tonnes, with 17 to 268 newitems washed up on a 10-metre section of beachdaily. Australian researcher Dr Jennifer Laverssays the island has the highest density of plasticrubbish in the world and is a wake-up call thatplastic pollution is as grave a threat to humanityas climate change.

On learning of the paper, circular economyentrepreneur Dr Gunter Pauli said redesigningplastics is now a matter of urgency. He addedthat as well as biodegrading in air and soil, theymust biodegrade in salt, which acts as apreservative.

Plenty more fish?

Adidas, Reebok and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation are among those looking to replace fossil-based materials in an attempt to stem the flow of plastic waste

Plastics production isforecast to grow from311mt in 2014 to 1,124mtby 2050. One thirdcould find its way intothe sea.

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SUSTAI NAB I L ITY: ADIDAS AND REEBOK

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His sentiment has been echoed by the EllenMacArthur Foundation, which has teamed upwith The Schmidt Family Foundation to launch acompetition that hopes to address the problemin two ways: creating a new kind of plastic that iseasily recyclable or compostable, or redesigningpackaging to reduce the use of plastic.

The competition, which closes in October, hasa $2 million prize pot and offers the winnersaccess to industry experts to turn their ideas intoviable products or solutions. Michiel De Smet,project manager at the foundation, touts a NewPlastics Economy: boosting recycling, reuse orcomposting; reducing the amount of plasticsleakage into natural systems (estimated at 30%);and decoupling plastics from fossil feedstocks.He estimates that only 14% of plastic packagingis collected for recycling, with one third escapingcollection and ending up in the environment.“We are on the brink of reinventing the future ofplastics,” he says.

Renewable feedstocks The idea of moving away from fossil-based

plastics has also been seized upon by Reebokfor its latest project, Cotton + Corn. The shoe willhave an upper made of organic cotton and asole made from DuPont Tate & Lyle’s Susterrapropanediol, which is derived from field corn, anon-food source.

The corn is harvested, dried and transportedto DuPont’s manufacturing plant in Loudon,Tennessee, where it is wet milled and separatedinto its components including starch, fibre andprotein. The glucose derived from the starch isthe raw material for the 1,3 propanediol.

“It is used in so many industries because it canbe polymerised or paired with an acid to makea polyol, which then gets paired to make a TPUor a PU,” explains Laurie Kronenberg, globalmarketing director at DuPont Tate & Lyle BioProducts. “In terms of footwear, it can be used

for the foam, coatings, the sole, the midsole andinsole, based on how the different value chainpartners play with the different chemistries.”

Many companies blend the Susterra forfootwear to achieve different properties. InReebok’s case, it wanted a “high-level” plant-based sole – however, it is unclear whether it is100% Susterra.

“When people think ‘green’ they assume it’snot going to perform as well as something thatis petroleum based, but in our case we have theopposite,” says Laurie, commenting that itremains flexible at low temperatures, hasexcellent resilience and compression and is costcomparable. She gives the example of snowboots’ soles, which need to remain flexible whencold, US military boots that need good slipresistance or for coating outdoor apparel that isexposed to extreme conditions.

The manufacturing process is also ‘cleaner’ –from ‘cradle to grave’, the 1,3-propanediolproduces 56% less greenhouse gas and uses42% less non-renewable energy thanpetroleum-based 1,3-propanediol –the equivalent of taking 40,000 carsoff the road per year when thefactory is running at full capacity.

43WSA July/August 2017

WSA Sustainability: Adidas and Reebok

Reebok’s Cotton + Cornproject uses organiccotton and plant-basedSusterra in the sole.

Reebok

UltraBoost UncagedParley is one of threedesigns thatincorporaterecovered waste.

adidas

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44 WSA July/August 2017

WSA Sustainability: Adidas and Reebok

“Because of the performance advantages, a lotof major brands are using it as a ‘secretingredient’, but following Reebok there will bemore people willing to say they use the productas they can see the advantages,” says MsKronenberg. She adds that from a lifestyleperspective, consumers are increasinglyengaged in the sustainability message.

Bill McInnis, head of Reebok Future (Reebok’sinnovation team), says of the project: “We’reusing materials that grow and can bereplenished, rather than the petroleum-basedmaterials commonly used today. We care aboutwhat happens to the shoes when people aredone with them. So we’ve focused on plant-based materials such as corn and cotton at thebeginning, and compostability in the end.”

Susterra on its own is classed as biodegradableaccording to guidelines set out by theOrganisation for Economic Co-operation andDevelopment, but it then depends on what it’sblended with as to whether the end product willbe compostable.

“We like to say we are ‘growing shoes’,” addsMcInnis. “Ultimately, our goal is to create a broadselection of bio-based footwear that can becomposted after use. We’ll then use that compostas part of the soil to grow the materials for thenext range of shoes. We want to take the entirecycle into account; to go from dust to dust.”

Reebok president Matt O’Toole comments:“Most shoes just end up in landfills, which issomething we are trying to change. As a brand,we will be focusing on sustainability with theCotton + Corn programme as well as otherinitiatives we have in the works.”

The shoes will be available later this year.

Ocean run At the start of June, 60,000 joined adidas’

and Runtastic’s Run for the Oceans, a globalvirtual running event covering a collective572,000 kilometres. Each participant signed upvia an app to log their mileage, and ran listeningto a podcast by Parley about the problems ofocean waste. Organised to coincide with WorldOceans Week, the flagship run took place inNew York City, with 500 athletes and celebritiessuch as supermodel Karlie Kloss helping topromote the cause. “The run is done but therace is not over,” said a spokesperson. “Thefinish line is just the start.”

Adidas promised in 2014 that the Parleyproject would be expanded and last Novemberunveiled the first apparel products made usingrecycled plastic from the ocean. It worked withTaiwanese textile group Far Eastern NewCentury, which converted the recovered plasticinto yarn, to produce adidas x Parley footballjerseys printed with water-based dyes. Playersfrom Bayern Munich and Real Madrid football

clubs wore the shirts on the field, ademonstration of the fabric’s technical qualities.

“This represents another step on the journeyof adidas and Parley for the Oceans,” says MrLiedtke. “We have not only managed to makefootwear from recycled ocean plastic, but havealso created the first jersey coming 100% out ofthe ocean.” He added that the company “won’tstop there”: “The ultimate ambition is toeliminate virgin plastic from the supply chain.”

The Parley Uncaged shoe collection, nowexpanded to three designs, has grown from aninitial 7,000 run to being on course to surpassone million by the end of this year, an adidasspokesperson confirms to WSA. He adds thatParley Ocean Plastic will be integrated intomore footwear models and apparel lines into2018 and beyond.

“Our efforts won’t stop with product – wewant to create a global movement to help savethe oceans from the threat of plastic waste,” addsMr Liedtke. “At the heart of our brand is thebelief that through sport, we have the power tochange lives.”

We will look at the issue of microplastics in more depth in thenext issue of WSA.

Actor Diego Luna,Parley founder CyrillGutsch and adidas’ EricLiedtke at Run For TheOceans in New York.

adidas

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