In a revolutionary move, adidas look to tackle plastic waste literally one step at a time with the recent reveal of the 100% recyclable FUTURECRAFT.LOOP performance running shoe – a shoe that’s made to be remade.
Starting its mission with Parley for the Oceans back in 2015, adidas introduced the concept of performance footwear with an upper made entirely of yarns and filaments reclaimed and recycled from marine plastic waste and illegal deep-sea gillnets. Now news has arrived that, starting with the reveal of the FUTURECRAFT.LOOP, the German brand will produce 11 million pairs of shoes with Ocean Plastic by Parley through intercepting plastic waste on beaches, remote islands and in coastal communities.
Creating products with premium materials by Parley, made from up-cycled marine plastic waste, is the first pillar of adidas’ sustainability strategy. As a brand it is committed to using only recycled polyester in every product and on every application where a solution exists by 2024. That means that there’s a very realistic chance that we’ll be seeing our first fully recyclable football boot before too long.
“Taking plastic waste out of the system is the first step, but we can’t stop there,” said Eric Liedtke, Executive Board Member at adidas, responsible for Global Brands. “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.”
This is the next step in adidas’ ‘Sport Infinity’ announcement from 2015 that would see football creators able to constantly reimagine and recycle their dream products using an inexhaustible 3-D super-material. The FUTURECRAFT.LOOP project is this announcement realised, enabling a “closed loop” or circular manufacturing model , where the raw materials can be repurposed again and again. But not just repurposed into a water bottle or a tote, but into another pair of high-performance running shoes or football boots.
This follows the recent unveiling of adidas MLS x Parley kits, that have been constructed using fully recycled plastics recovered from our oceans, as adidas continue to try to improve the world by reducing plastic waste.
The adidas FUTURECRAFT.LOOP will not be available to consumers until 2021 while tests and analysis continues, but it's a sign of things to come and a huge step in the right direction.
