SUSTAINABILITY
ike is making football kits from 100 % textile waste for the 2026 World Cup. Using advanced chemical recycling, the company says these kits are“ light, unrestrictive and comfortable” with its Aero-FIT technology, alongside setting new sustainability standards.
Janett Nichol, VP, Apparel & Advanced Digital Creation Studio Innovation at Nike, says:“ Nike exists to make athletes better and our breakthrough Aero-FIT technology delivers the future of our industrydefining apparel innovation in both elite performance and sustainability at scale.”
Advanced chemical recycling Traditional mechanical recycling has a major flaw. Every time plastic or polyester fibres are melted and re-spun, the polymer chains break down and shorten. Once the material degrades, it becomes too weak for clothing and particularly elite athletic wear.
Chemical recycling solves this problem, using solvents, heat and chemical agents to break textile waste down at the molecular level.
This reverts polyester back into monomers and makes it physically indistinguishable from virgin, petroleum-derived polyester.
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