Environmental Protection, ADI, Join The Environmental Protection Team Against Plastics.

Adidas plans to replace all the plastics used in the process of making shoes and clothing by 2024, which is another big company after taking the Starbucks and Dumne Dole as a green target.

The goal is to convert all new plastics made of 450 million pairs of sports shoes into old plastics in 6 years.

"Our goal is to get rid of native polyester by 2024."

Eric Lidtke, Adidas global brand leader, recently interviewed the financial times.

Adidas sells 9 million 200 thousand kinds of products in the year.

About 50% of them are polyester, that is, a kind of plastic.

Recycled polyester is also plastic, just recycled plastic and plastic waste.

Moreover, the recycled polyester is about 10-20% more expensive than the original polyester.

Over the past two years, Adidas has been working with a marine ecological and environmental protection organization named Parley for the Oceans. Every year, some running shoes made of marine plastic garbage are introduced annually. The shoe upper Primeknit of this series of running shoes use these plastic wastes to make polyester yarns.

Last year, the brand sold 100 pairs of Ultraboost Uncaged Parley, priced at 179.95 euros, much more expensive than ordinary running shoes.

This year's goal is to sell 5 million pairs, and sell 1100 pairs of ten thousand pairs in 2019.

But even if you sell 11 million pairs, this figure will only account for 3% of the 450 million pairs of sneakers sold annually by Adidas. It is no small project to completely replace the recycled polyester before 2024 years.

There is a big leap forward in Adidas's environmental marketing. Its background is that more and more big companies have signed a convention to boycott plastics or make oral promises.

Iceland, the British supermarket, announced that 1 of its own brand products will be used in this year.

Packaging, bread and coffee chain Pret A Manger announced that the use of recyclable cups increased by 50 times. By the 4 month, more than 40 companies including Tesco, Lidl, Marsha general, Unilever and Procter & Gamble signed the British Plastics convention, and agreed to abandon unnecessary one-off packaging by 2025.

The tide of plastic resistance is rolling in.

Then there was IKEA, who promised to cancel all disposable plastic tableware in the restaurant before 2020 years ago, followed by last week's announcement that Starbucks would be phased out next year, though it still failed to find a perfect alternative.

For most of the big companies that follow up the trend, choosing recycled plastics is a relatively acceptable way to show their posture compared to giving up plastics altogether.

According to a report released in 2016 by the world economic forum, at least 8 million tons of plastic enter the ocean every year, and warned that there may be more plastic in the sea than fish in 2050.

As consumers get to know what products they are consuming from such documentaries as "blue planet" or "ocean trash country", brands are starting to turn the boycott plastics into a bigger sport and publicize them.

Procter & Gamble launched an event in France in 2017 to collect the beach.

Head and Shoulders's shampoo bottle is made from garbage. The proceeds from this event will be used to support P & G's commitment: by the end of 2018, the 90% P & G shampoo bottles sold in Europe will contain 25% recycled polyester.

The advantage of big companies is that it may push the cost of recycled plastics industry down.

Eric Lidtke said the price difference is the reason why the group needs to spend 6 more years on the use of recycled polyester. "We can't absorb all the costs in one year."

But recycled polyester has its drawbacks. Any polyester fabric will shed microfiber, which is a great part of the pollution caused by marine plastics.

Sander Defruyt, who is committed to accelerating the pition to the circular economy, says it is right to use recycled plastics or replace it, but "it is not a package solution", says Alan Macarthur of the foundation.

To some extent, this is also a bet for the brands that are now investing in environmental protection to win consumers' favor. Once scientific research finds new evidence, it is an embarrassing problem to question how to respond to products that are considered sustainable nowadays. Outdoor brand Patagonia, who has used recycled plastic bottles in clothing, has been pointed out.

During washing, tiny fibers will be shed and the sea will be eaten by fish and enter the food chain.

The company says they are still studying the reduction.

Shedding technology.