Adidas releasing recycled shoes

Alyssa Bunde
Staff Writer

In 2017 Forbes stated, “Humans buy a million plastic bottles per minute,” and that, “91 percent of all plastic is not recycled.” Adidas, the famous shoe company is doing something about this.

In 2015 adidas paired up with environmental group, Parley for Oceans. The group according to an Adidas press release is a, “global network of creators, thinkers and leaders from brands, governments and environmental groups who come together to raise awareness for the beauty and fragility of the oceans and collaborate on projects that can end their destruction. “

In the same Adidas press release they explain that the Adidas Parley products use plastic that is, “collected by organizations on shorelines and coastal areas such as the Maldives.”

In 2017 Adidas produced one million pairs of shoes and in 2018, Adidas manufactured more than five million pairs of shoes containing recycled plastic waste, according to an Adidas press release. 

In January, Adidas Tennis joined the recycled shoe game and released the first ever Parley tennis collection. It was created for the Australian Open and worn by ATP final winner Sascha Zverrev and Australian Open champion Caroline Woziacki, according to an Adidas press release. 

Ivan Meija-Devora, apparel designer at Adidas Tennis explains the use of the Parley Ocean Plastic is used to, “create eco-innovative apparel and footwear to inspire positive change and help raise awareness to better protect the oceans.”

Not only is Adidas up-cycling plastic for shoes but they have stated they have not been using plastic bags since 2016 and Huff Post reported the company has pledged to use only recycled plastics, including polyester, by 2024. 

Scrolling through the Adidas website you can find a variety of Parley for Oceans products. The price tag for some of the items is undoubtedly high, but If I were to drop $160 for a pair of shoes at least I’d know it was for a good cause. 

“Today there is no excuse for any company to use new, virgin plastic,” Parley founder Cyrill Gutsch told Fairfax. “We have proven consumers are willing to pay a little more money and prefer products made from ‘ocean plastic’ than other recycled plastics or new plastics.”

Header photo courtesy of Flickr.