All recycled polyester at Puma to come from textile waste
Sports group Puma has announced the scaling up of its textile recycling programme, Re:Fibre. It said it would use fabric developed using Re:Fibre in its professional and replica football shirts from 2024 onwards.
There are four steps in the Re:Fibre process. The first is to collect and sort textile waste, followed by shredding and mixing the collected materials. After that, the material is dissolved, filtered and polymerised, removing dyes through a chemical recycling process. Lastly, the newly produced polymers can be spun and made into Re:Fibre fabric.
Further down the line, garments made from Re:Fibre will be able to go back through the same process and be recycled again and again.
In 2022, Puma ran a Re:Fibre pilot exercise to produce training tops for sponsored football clubs. Earlier this year, it used the technology to make replica Switzerland and Morocco kits for the FIFA Women’s World Cup. It also used the technology to create a third kit for high-flying Spanish club Girona FC.
“The technology looks to diversify the fashion industry’s source of recycled polyester, becoming less reliant on clear plastic bottles,” Puma said. Its chief sourcing officer, Anne-Laure Descours, said the group’s aim was to source 100% of the polyester it uses in its products from textile waste.
She explained: “Textile waste build-up in landfills is an environmental risk. Rethinking the way we produce, moving towards a more circular business model, is one of the main priorities of our sustainability strategy.”
Puma has joined On, Patagonia, PVH and Salomon to work with Carbios in a textile consortium.
