Puma to use waste fabric to produce all replica football club jerseys from 2024

Off the back of Puma’s announcement last week hailing the success of its experiment to make a fully biodegradable ‘Re:Suede’ shoe, the brand’s new ‘Re:Fibre’ technology is to be used to produce all of its replica football club jerseys from 2024.

The move is described as “set to drive a new wave of interest in the fields of sustainability and football and set a new standard for the industry”, replacing recycled polyester.

Since the launch of the pilot in 2022, which saw Puma produce recycled training jerseys for their sponsored football clubs including Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan under the banner of ‘Re:Jersey’, the Re:Fibre technology has been used to create replica kits for Switzerland and Morocco for the Women’s World Cup.

In 2024, official Puma football replica jerseys, including those for the European Championship and Copa América tournaments, will be manufactured using Re:Fibre recycled materials made of old garments and factory waste, rather than only recycled plastic bottles.

Anne-Laure Descours, Chief Sourcing Officer at Puma, said: “Our wish is to have 100% of product polyester coming from textile waste. Textile waste build-up in landfills is an environmental risk, so rethinking the way we produce and moving towards a more circular business model is one of the main priorities of our sustainability strategy.”

To help make the technical process of Re:Fibre “more digestible for the everyday consumer who wants to know more”, Puma has utilised the storytelling power of computer generated imagery to take viewers through the Re:Fibre process, “right down to the molecular chemistry at work”.

The video builds on the brand’s ongoing commitment to ensure Puma’s sustainability initiatives “are simplified for everyone to engage with”. It comes after research conducted by Puma found that 71% of young people felt their voices were not being heard when it comes to the environment and would like to see brands making more commitments (49%), communicating their goals better (40%) and being more transparent (34%).