Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Nike's World Cup uniforms made from recycled plastic bottles
Posted by Katie Machol on Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 1:14 PM
Good news, sports fans, the 2010 FIFA World Cup is just 92 days away and, like the Winter Olympics, these games will also be sporting some recycled wear. Nike has just unveiled their uniforms (or "kits" being the proper term) they've created especially for the teams they're sponsoring this year, made from recycled plastic bottles.
Each uniform is made from up to 8 recycled PET (#1) plastic bottles that are melted down and spun into the polyester yarn used. Nike has saved about 13 million of those plastic bottles from landfills in Japan and Taiwan - that's enough to cover 29 soccer fields (or "football pitches"). Making recycled polyester from the bottles takes 30% less energy than creating new "virgin" polyester.
Hannah Jones, a vice president from Nike stated of their efforts, "The link between sustainability and Nike as a company's growth has never been so clear and there is certainly a real interest in making Nike a more sustainable company."
Hopefully, Nike will become a role model for other clothing manufacturers and that we'll be seeing more duds made from recycled materials in the near future available to the public.
According to The National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR):
"PET is the type of plastic labeled with the #1 code on or near the bottom of bottles and containers and is commonly used to package soft drinks, water, juice, peanut butter, salad dressings and oil, cosmetics and household cleaners. Recycled polyethylene terephthalate (RPET) can be used to make many new products, including fiber for polyester carpet; fabric for T-shirts, long underwear, athletic shoes, luggage, upholstery andsweaters; fiberfill for sleeping bags and winter coats; industrial strapping, sheet and film; automotive parts, such as luggage racks, headliners, fuse boxes, bumpers, grilles and door panels; and new PET containers for both food and non-food products."
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