How Adidas Makes Shoes From The Waste of Plastic Bottle?

Adidas makes over 400 million pairs of shoes once a year. Manufacturing that tons of shoes requires tons of resources; but constantly creating new materials isn't great for the environment or for climate. We are seeing lots of natural calamities throughout this year, 2020.

         (Image Source : unsplash.com)

So Adidas is popping to a special source.

Experts and researchers predict that in 30 years, there'll be more plastic in our oceans than fish; and one study estimates that 90% of seabirds have consumed some kind of plastic waste. All that pollution on beaches and within the ocean is harmful to both marine life and humans. 

Adidas is trying to stop variety of that plastic before it reaches the ocean. In 2015, Adidas partnered with the environmental organization Parley for the Oceans.

What is the Goal of Adidas?

To turn marine pollution into sportswear.

Now, they've made a huge progress.

In 2019, Adidas expects to form 11 million pairs of shoes with recycled ocean plastic. That's quite double what it made in 2018. Adidas says the partnership has prevented 2,810 many plastic from reaching the oceans.

But how are these shoes made?

It all starts at the beach. Parley and its partners collect trash from coastal areas

like the Maldives. The waste is then sorted; and thus the recovered plastic is shipped to an Adidas processing plant. 

Adidas uses plastic bottles that contain Polyethylene Terephthalate, or PET.

What if it's something Adidas can't use, like caps and rings?

Not all the plastic waste are often used to produce and make a finished product. An organization possesses to form thier products with more quality and appropriateness.

Those (waste that can't be used) get sent to normal recycling facilities. The processing plant crushes, washes, and dehydrates the waste, leaving nothing but small plastic flakes.

The flakes are heated, dried, and cooled, then dig small resin pellets. Normally, polyester is made from petroleum. But Adidas melts these pellets to form a filament, which is spun into what they call Ocean Plastic, a kind of polyester yarn.

Adidas uses Ocean Plastic to make the upper parts of shoes and clothing like jerseys.

Each item within the Parley collection is made from a minimum of 75% intercepted marine trash. which they still meet the same performance and luxury standards of Adidas' other shoes.

Recycled polyester uses less water and fewer chemicals and helps prevent plastic pollution. Adidas' goal is to exchange all virgin polyester with recycled polyester by 2024.

What's the current status for Adidas during a task of saving an environment?

Currently, quite 40% of Adidas' apparel uses recycled polyester. you will have seen Adidas' recycled sportswear without even noticing it. Clothing made with Ocean Plastic has been utilized in college football, baseball, the NHL, the Australian Open, and more. But that doesn't eliminate plastic pollution entirely.

Washing polyester clothing can create microfibers, which may end up within the ocean. Adidas suggests that customers wash their clothes less often, use cold water, and fully fill the machine whenever .

But this is often often just the first step. 

Adidas is additionally developing a 100% recyclable shoe called the Futurecraft Loop. This shoe is made to be remade. Because it are often returned and weakened to form a brand-new pair.

Futurecraft Loop is predicted to be available in 2021. 

With the assistance of Parley for the Oceans, Adidas is using readily available material to manufacture new products. which can be an enormous step towards a sustainable future.