Puma trials garment-to-garment recycling in circularity project

Puma has announced an innovative production pilot to produce new football jerseys using existing items, aimed at reducing waste and exploring more circular production models in the future.

Named RE:JERSEY, the process allows old garments that feature logos, embroideries and club badges, which previously hindered recycling efforts to turn old garments into new ones, can now be used.

In the recycling process used for the project, the garments are chemically broken down into their main components in a process called depolymerisation. Colours are then filtered out and the material is chemically put back together through repolymerisation to create a yarn that has the same performance characteristics as virgin polyester.

Whilst Puma’s football kits on the market today are already made from 100% recycled polyester, RE:JERSEY kits will be made with 75% repurposed football jerseys. The remaining 25% comes from Seaqual marine plastic, a 100% post-consumer recycled polyester yarn.

The products made in the RE:JERSEY project will be worn on-pitch during pre-match warm-ups by Manchester City, AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund and Olympique de Marseille. The teams will wear the jerseys ahead of their respective league fixtures in late April and May, starting with Manchester City against Watford on 23 April.

Howard Williams, Director Apparel Technology at Puma said: "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."

The RE:JERSEY pilot experiment is part of Puma’s Circular Lab and its Forever Better sustainability platform. As part of Circular Lab, Puma announced the RE:SUEDE program last year, which tests the company's capability to make a biodegradable version of its iconic SUEDE sneaker.