Sales of adidas 'ocean plastic' shoes tops one million

Each pair of adidas UltraBOOST Uncaged Parley running shoes is said to have reused 11 plastic bottles retrieved in clean-up operations.

Last year, sportswear producer adidas sold one million pairs of running shoes made with ocean plastic waste, according to company chief executive Kasper Rorsted. The footwear was designed in conjunction with ‘Parley with the Oceans’ – an initiative that aims to make stakeholders aware of the growing problem with plastic waste in the oceans while collaborating on projects that have been designed to improve the situation.

Within the scheme, adidas works with Parley to avoid the use of virgin plastic, to collect plastic waste from the environment whenever possible, and to redesign its apparel and footwear to make these products both sustainable and able to perform better.

An example of the company’s products incorporating ocean plastic waste is the adidas UltraBOOST Uncaged Parley running shoe. This features a Primeknit upper reportedly made from 95 per cent of plastic retrieved during clean-up operations in the Maldives mixed with 5 per cent of recycled polyester. Each pair is said to have reused 11 plastic bottles, and recycled plastic is also being incorporated into the laces, heel cap base material, heel webbing, heel lining and sock liner cover.

Publishing Data

This article was originally published on page 3 of the May 2018 issue of SATRA Bulletin.

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