PUMA Scale-up Textile-to-Textile Recycling Technology, Creating All Future Replica Football Kit Using RE:FIBRE Technology
07 December 2023: PUMA has announced that it has scaled up its textile recycling innovation, RE:FIBRE, replacing recycled polyester with RE:FIBRE technology in all PUMA football Club and Federation replica jerseys from 2024 onwards.
Since the launch of pilot in 2022, which saw PUMA produce recycled training jerseys for their sponsored football clubs, RE:FIBRE technology has been used to create Switzerland and Morocco replica kits for the Women’s World Cup as well as Girona’s 2023/24 season Third kit. In 2024, official PUMA football replica jerseys* including those for the Euro and Copa América tournaments will be manufactured using RE:FIBRE recycled materials that were made of old garments and factory waste rather than only recycled plastic bottles.
Through the RE:FIBRE program, PUMA is keen to address challenge of textile waste via a long-term solution for recycling. Technology also looks to diversify the fashion industry’s main source of recycled polyester in garments from being less reliant on clear plastic bottles.
RE:FIBRE process uses any polyester material – from factory offcuts, faulty goods to pre-loved clothes which allows new garments to be recycled from any colour textile to any colour desired.
Four-step process of RE:FIBRE sees:
– Collect and Sort: Collecting and sorting textile waste and other previously wasteful materials.
– Shred and Mix: Shredding and mixing the collected materials down to the minimum.
Dissolve, Filter and Polymerize: Melting down the shredded polyester and ridding them of previous dyes through a chemical recycling process.
– Melt, Spin, Knit and Sew: The melting allows the newly produced polymers to become ready to be spun and sewn into shape to create good as new RE:FIBRE fabric which can be recycled again and again.
“Our wish is to have 100% of product polyester coming from textile waste,” said Anne-Laure Descours, Chief Sourcing Officer at PUMA. “Textile waste build-up in landfills is an environmental risk. Rethinking the way we produce and moving towards a more circular business model is one of the main priorities of our sustainability strategy.”
As part of this commitment to communicate better, PUMA released The RE:GEN REPORTS podcast in June 2023. Making dense information in their Sustainability Report more accessible and tailored to a Gen Z audience.
PUMA’s ongoing efforts in sustainability has shown the brand improving its rankings on Corporate Knight’s Global 100 Sustainability Index from 77th to 47th, and the journey is not over. You can read further on PUMA’s sustainability targets and RE:FIBRE on foreverbetter.com.
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