Within the next six years, Adidas is planning to use only recycled polyester in all of its shoes and clothing.
The shift is a push to increase the sustainability of its supply chain and would see the brand target 5million in sales of recycled footwear this year and 11million in 2019.
Recycled polyester is 10-20 per cent more expensive than “virgin” materials.
Eric Liedtke, Head of Adidas’ global brands, told the Financial Times: “We have to make sure we take right-sized bites so that we can maintain our current margin structure. We can absorb some costs every year, but we could not absorb it all in one year.”
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However even if Adidas meets next year’s target of 11million recycled pairs of shoes, it would account for just 3 per cent of its annual footwear production.
As more companies shift to renewables and suppliers increase their ability to produce recycled materials in large quantities, industry experts believe the price gap between recycled and new plastics will close in the coming years.
“Prices will come down as we develop more capacity to collect, clean and process used plastics,” said Brenda Haitema, who leads supply chain operations at Thread International, which makes fabric from recycled plastics used by brands such as Marmot, Timberland and Adidas subsidiary Reebok.
Adidas has been experimenting with making kit from recycled plastics for several years and its uniforms for volunteers at the 2012 Olympic Games in London were made from re-used water bottles.