ASICS: Getting recycled materials in their shoes and packaging

The uppers of the new collection’s six running shoe models and three SportStyle offerings employ recycled polyester fibres made from a total of around 300,000 PET bottles. These items represent the first stage of an ASICS drive to switch to 100% recycled polyester fibres in all of its uppers by 2030 to help combat climate change.

The collection, which the company claims harks back to the ecofriendly practices of early Tokyo, uses 100% recycled-paper shoe boxes with approximately 10% less material than the brand’s standard designs. It also marks a switch from oil-based inks to water-based ones, thereby halving ink usage. These sustainable shoe boxes will expand sequentially from September 2020.

All the boxes will be switched in 2021 and approximately 47.5 million pairs/year will be the scope of these shoe-box changes, thereby cutting down ASICS’ annual CO2 emissions by about 1,200 metric tons, as per the official press release shared with CauseBecause.

The graphics for the uppers incorporate a combination of two Edo Era lettering styles in a nod to that period’s inspiration for the collection. The new range is available at  ASICS stores in India and its website    www.asics.com.