Environmental Pioneer Adidas'S Road To Sustainability Is Still Long.

Not long ago, "gorgeous" has reported that the German sporting goods giant Adidas (Adidas) announced the launch of the second generation of 100% Futurecraft Loop sneakers repeatedly recycled, in addition to upgrading the performance of the first generation of shoes, still guaranteed 100% of recyclability.
As the millennial generation (1983-2000 born) consumers pay more and more attention to sustainable and environmental protection, not only is Adidas, but many other sports brands are also working hard to meet the green needs of the younger generation of consumers. According to a 2017 research conducted by market research firm Nielsen, 85% of the millennials believe that environmental protection projects are "extremely important".
In May of this year, Adidas's biggest competitor, the American sporting goods giant Nike (Nike), released a design guide dedicated to recycling materials. The guidelines provide ten guidelines for product recycling design, involving raw materials, renewability, waste reduction, biodegradability, green chemistry, refurbishment, flexibility, durability, regenerative packaging and business mode innovation. In the early December, the US sports brand Reebok (Reebok) announced the launch of the first high-performance running shoes, Forever Floatride Grow, which was produced by plant raw materials.
However, according to Virgile Caillet, the general representative of Sport and Cycle Union, the French sports and Leisure Industry Association, "environmental protection" is not the most important consumer driving factor in the actual consumption process. The comfort, price and performance of shoes are still the most important factors driving customer consumption.
It is estimated that the price of the second generation Futurecraft Loop sneakers will be 200 to 300 euros per pair, and the output may be only a few thousand pairs -- compared to the 400 million biennial production of Adidas, which is a drop in the bucket.
Therefore, some people question whether Futurecraft Loop is actually a "green" behavior of Adidas. Floating green, that is, a company, a government or an organization can declare its own environmental protection by some actions or actions, but it is not consistent with the actual action, but a bluff and environmental publicity.
In response, David Quass, Adidas's business strategy director, denied that in an interview with Agence France-Presse. "It's not green." Although many people do not realize this, it is a real change in the production process. "
As for the success of Futurecraft Loop, the key lies in whether mass production can be popularized to the mass market. Dharan Kirupanantham, senior manager of Adidas's future technological innovation, has said before: "our idea is to make sustainable fashion more popular. No matter what we do, if it can not be popularized in the mass market, there will be no real sustainable development.
Dharan Kirupanantham said: "every new technology is facing challenges of scale expansion. I think the unique feature of circular economy is that only when consumers buy products, can enterprises expand their scale. What we really need to solve is the logistics problem of recycling products and the interaction with consumers. "
At present, Futurecraft Loop shoes are still in the testing stage, which are limited to sale in only the major cities in the world. They are experienced and feedback by 200 opinion leaders. It is expected to be launched in the mass market in 2021.
In recent years, adidas has been an environmental activist in the sporting goods industry. Last August, Adidas announced that it plans to stop using new plastics and make use of recycled plastics as raw materials before 2024 to improve the environmental protection level and sustainability of its supply chain. In January this year, Adidas and Parley for the Oceans jointly launched the adizero Authentic Pro x Parley eco green jersey for the US professional hockey League All-Star game.
In early July this year, Adidas joined the British designer brand Stella McCartney to launch two sustainable concept costumes -- 100% recyclable fabrics, Hoodie Infinite Hoodie and biological fiber tennis skirt Biofabric Tennis Dress; in November this year, Adidas also launched a pilot project with the augmented reality technology (AR) technology company eyecandylab at the flagship store in Champs Elysees street, Paris, using the technology to build immersive experience and publicize the marine plastic recycling plan.
According to statistics, in 2018 alone, Adidas used recycled plastic to produce about 5000000 pairs of sneakers to help recycle a large amount of marine plastic waste and Beach plastic waste. Adidas plans to increase this figure to about 11000000 double this year.
However, Adidas announced in November this year that it will close its two high-tech robotics factories in Bach, Germany and the city of Atlanta, Germany -- Speedfactory
This news has caused some industry insiders to question the sustainability and environmental protection commitments and publicity of Adidas. Samah Habib, a fashion expert at Accenture, a consultancy, believes that "closing the robot factory will definitely affect the carbon footprint of Adidas. This move is contrary to the brand's publicity in recent years."
Although Adidas did not explain why the two robotics factories were closed, Martin Shankland, head of global operations, said: "robotics factories help companies improve their expertise in innovative production. If these professional skills are applied to Asian factories, they will be more economical and flexible." Therefore, the closure of the two robot factories may be mainly due to the high cost and the limitations of production categories.
Much of the production of Adidas still relies on the foundries of China and Vietnam. Although Asian labor costs continue to rise in recent years, they still have a strong "economy" compared with those in Europe and the United States. At the same time, Adidas also said that besides the production of sports shoes, two suppliers in Asia will also use Speedfactory related technology to produce other categories, give full play to the high efficiency of technology and expand the scope of production.