On June 29, a sustainability film to fight plastic pollution was launched by adidas, the global sportswear giant, to celebrate its five-year successful partnership with Parley. Through this film, adidas aims to raise awareness about fighting marine plastic pollution and replacing all plastics and polyester in its products with recycled materials by 2024.

The goal of the sustainability film is to inspire positive action to tackle marine pollution so that future generations can reap the benefits. In 2015, adidas announced a partnership with Parley for the Oceans, an organisation that raises awareness about the oceans.  

According to the company, sustainability is a key pillar of focus at adidas and is embedded into the planning and architecture of products and stories that the brand launches.

To tackle the problem, adidas has put in place a three-loop strategy:

1. Collaborating with Parley, collecting plastic waste, and converting it into high performance apparel and footwear

2. Making a circular loop wherein the recycled materials can be used over and over again

3. Regenerative loop, engineering organic materials from nature to make yarn and leather that can replace recycled plastic in the future

Partnering with Parley on a shared mission to use 100 percent recycled polyester in its products by 2024, the brand launched ULTRABOOST DNA PARLEY. These running shoes have a seamless knit upper that’s made with yarn spun from plastic reclaimed from beaches and coastal communities. It features Parley Ocean Plastic – upcycled plastic waste intercepted on remote islands, beaches, coastal communities, and shorelines, thus preventing it from polluting the oceans.

The company is yet to respond to our questions on how the impact of the sustainability film will be measured, how many of the Parley shoes will be manufactured, if it intends to start further such lines of products, and promoting these shoes among consumers considering the price.