There's a huge amount of plastic swirling around in the ocean and some long-term plans to clean it up, but Adidas has some short-term plans to put at least some of it to use. The sportswear manufacturer has today announced that its footwear made from the ocean's plastic waste will be available to buy this month, and has put together some recycled plastic jerseys for a couple of big-name soccer clubs to help mark the occasion.
Adidas has teamed up with environmental organization Parley for the Oceans to make the shoes, which draws the plastic waste materials from the coastal areas of the Maldives. The two joined forces last year to help increase awareness and drive new technologies to retrieve and recycle ocean plastic debris. They first produced a limited run of 50 recycled plastic shoes last year, and are now bringing the eco-minded footwear to market.
The knitted upper part of Adidas' UltraBoost Uncaged Parley trainers is made from a mix of 95 percent recycled ocean plastic and recycled polyester. The rest, such as the laces, heel cap and lining is made from recycled materials.
Meanwhile, two of Europe's soccer giants in Real Madrid and Bayern Munich will this month take to the field in jerseys made from Parley's recycled ocean plastic. Bayern's recycled red shirt will be on display when it takes on TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on Saturday, while Real Madrid will show off its white version later this month on November 26 against Real Sporting de Gijón.
Both jerseys will be available from the Adidas online store (Bayern Munich's from today and Real Madrid's from November 24) though there is no word yet on pricing. The footwear will be available online from mid-November and priced at €200 (US$222). The company says, however, that it will make one million pairs in 2017, a tally that would remove eleven million bottles from the ocean.
Source: Adidas