Plastic-Free July: How Apparel Brands Are Leveraging Recycled Plastics
Forbes | July 8, 2020
Created in 2011, Plastic-Free July is a worldwide annual initiative from the Plastic Free Foundation aimed at reducing the use of single-use plastics and encouraging consumers and businesses to find more responsible alternatives.
Are their companies making steps toward being more responsible when it comes to single-use plastics? It turns out, there are—and legacy brands like Adidas leading the way.
Adidas shared that this year, 50% of their polyester will be made from recycled materials, and that by 2024, their goal is to use only recycled materials where a solution exists.
Other retailers in the apparel space are getting on board as well. For retailers, using recycled plastic isn’t just a way to be more environmentally responsible, either. If you ask Adrian Solgaard, founder of sustainable travel gear company Solgaard, it’s also an opportunity for important storytelling. “Using recycled plastic as a medium for accessories is great, as it allows the person using it a chance to tell the story of how the product got to them,” he said.
This isn’t the end of the discussion around recycled plastics, however. Using recycled materials like plastic (namely rPET) are only a piece of the larger puzzle.