Puma to expand use of Re:Fibre tech for all replica football jerseys

Sports giant Puma has said that it will be replacing its formerly used recycled polyester with its textile-to-textile Re:Fibre product in all Puma football club and federation replica jerseys from 2024 onwards.

The move comes as the brand reported it was scaling up textile recycling technology Re:Fibre, which initially launched as a pilot in 2022 in a bid to produce recycled training jerseys for sponsored football clubs.

The material, which uses waste products from factory offcuts, faulty goods and pre-loved clothes, has already been integrated into the replica kits of Switzerland and Morocco for the Women’s World Cup, among other things.

Now, however, the company is planning to expand the use of the product, starting with official football replica jerseys, including those for the Euro and Copa America tournaments, replacing the prior need for recycled plastic bottles – initially used in the process – to create the garments.

In a release, chief sourcing officer at Puma, Anne-Laure Descours, said: “Our wish is to have 100 percent of product polyester coming from textile waste.

“Textile waste build-up in landfills is an environmental risk. Rethinking the way we produce and moving towards a more circular business model is one of the main priorities of our sustainability strategy.”