In collaboration with Parley for the Oceans, Adidas came up with the first performance footwear concept four years back. It was based on the use of yarns and filaments recycled from marine plastic waste and illegal deep-sea gillnets. This year, the company has set a target of producing around 11 million pairs of shoes with Ocean Plastic along with Parley, by collecting all the plastic waste from different areas.
Having sustainability as one of its hallmarks, Adidas is focusing on the use of only recycled polyester in all its products.
According to Eric Liedtke, Executive Board Member at adidas, “Taking plastic waste out of the system is the first step, but we can’t stop there.”
“What happens to your shoes after you’ve worn them out? You throw them away – except there is no away. There are only landfills and incinerators and ultimately an atmosphere choked with excess carbon, or oceans filled with plastic waste. The next step is to end the concept of “waste” entirely. Our dream is that you can keep wearing the same shoes over and over again,” he added.
“FUTURECRAFT.LOOP is our first running shoe that is made to be remade. It is a statement of our intent to take responsibility for the entire life of our product; proof that we can build high-performance running shoes that you don’t have to throw away,” said Liedtke.
Aimed at addressing the problem of plastic waste, the FUTURECRAFT.LOOP project was launched for adopting a “closed loop” or circular manufacturing model based on the reuse of raw materials.
Talking about the project, Paul Gaudio, SVP Creative Direction & Future, at adidas said, “FUTURECRAFT is our design and innovation ethos. It is about the intersection of art, science, technology, humanity, engineering and craft. It’s applying creativity to reimagine the world we wish to see.”
“The project seeks to break new ground, bringing new materials and processes to bear against the many challenges and opportunities we face in helping athletes make a difference in their game, in their life and of course, in the world they live in – the world we all live in,” he added.
