TEXTILES.ORG
Global sports company PUMA has scaled up its textile-to-textile recycling innovation RE:FIBRE, creating millions of replica football jerseys with a minimum of 75% recycled textile waste and other waste material.
The upscaling builds on the 46,000 RE:FIBRE jerseys produced in 2023 and seeks to not only reduce textile waste but also to create less reliance on plastic bottles. To make the upscaling possible, PUMA is exploring diversified ways to recycle polyester—such as thermo-mechanical and chemical recycling techniques, enabling the company to increase its capacity to recycle textile waste.
PUMA’s RE:FIBRE textile-to-textile recycling program uses polyester waste from factory offcuts, faulty goods and used clothing to create new textiles.
“Our wish is to have 100% of our polyester products created from textile waste,” says Anne-Laure Descours, chief sourcing officer at PUMA. “Rethinking how we produce and moving towards a more circular business model is important, and RE:FIBRE is central to that.”
The material can be recycled multiple times without losing quality. All RE:FIBRE garments are made of recycled textile waste and other used materials made of polyester.
PUMA works with its suppliers and clubs and has more than two dozen take-back locations throughout Europe.