Adidas envisions a future where worn-out sportswear isn’t thrown away, but rather broken down and remolded with scrap material from other industries to create new products. The Adidas “Sport Infinity” initiative, announced recently and funded by the European Commission, seeks to create a new breed of sporting good, one that can be fully and repeatedly recycled while allowing for greater freedom of design. “The football boots of the future could contain everything from carbon used in aircraft manufacturing to fibers of the boots that scored during the World Cup,” Adidas said in a statement.
The world’s second-largest athletic-wear manufacturer, after Nike, says it’s developing a three-dimensional “super-material” that can be endlessly restyled using a waste- and adhesive-free process.
By allowing consumers to easily determine the colors and functionality of their product, the new material will “make any sports fan a product designer,” Adidas said.
“Just watched Messi score that winning goal? Imagine this; your next football boot purchase could actually contain material from that very same boot,” the company said. “And when you are ready for something new, you don’t throw your boot away, but bring it right back to be broken down and used as material for a brand-new product.”
Of his potential role in Adidas’s new manufacturing method, four-time FIFA Ballon d’Or winner Leo Messi had a few words of his own.
“I am proud that Adidas is working to make sure that all of their boots, including mine, are being made in a way that protects the environment,” he said. “For me, this is the future of football.”
Via Ecouterre
