Puma is piloting a production process called RE:JERSEY whereby it reuses its existing football jerseys to create new ones. The pilot is part of Puma’s Circular Lab and its Forever Better sustainability platform.
Puma said the manufacturing process chemically breaks down old garments into their main components (depolymerization), filters out color and the material is chemically put back together to create a yarn (repolymerisation) that has the same performance characteristics as virgin polyester.
Currently, the company’s football kits are made from 100 percent recycled polyester. RE:JERSEY kits are made from 75 percent repurposed football jerseys, with the remaining 25 percent from Seaqual, a regenerated fabric yarn made from recycled ocean plastic.
RE:JERSEY kits will be worn on-pitch during pre-match warm-ups by Puma Clubs Manchester City, AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund, and Olympique de Marseille. The teams will wear the jerseys ahead of their league fixtures in late April and May, starting with Manchester City against Watford on April 23.
“With the RE:JERSEY project, we wanted to develop ways to reduce our environmental impact, respect resources and reuse materials. The insights we gained with RE:JERSEY will help us develop more circular products in the future,” said Howard Williams, director apparel technology, Puma.
