This year, Nike manufactured soccer jerseys for its national teams (including the USA and the Netherlands) from recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate, a type of polyester) drink bottles. This is a great story of “closing the loop” on material flows – putting to use a material from a previous application, rather than landfilling or incinerating it.
According to Nike, the production of these recycled polyester jerseys kept enough bottles out of landfills to cover more than 3,000 kilometers, which is more than the entire coastline of South Africa. We applaud everyone involved in bringing the jerseys to fruition and the media for spotlighting this success story.
As we look forward to World Cup 2014, what will be the sustainability headline for the next event? We hope it involves expanding the use of recycled products but also reviewing the sourcing of those materials and keeping those materials in an infinite closed loop.