Puma calls on Sympatex for function-first rPET line
A tie-up between German sportswear brand Puma and Sympatex, a developer of membrane materials and functional textiles based near Munich, will see both partners take on the challenge of making technically advanced outdoor textiles from recycled polyester, also known as recycled polyethylene terephthalate or rPET.
Together, they will assemble an autumn-winter 2022 collection inspired by both companies’ individual sustainability strategies.
For Puma, the goal is to ensure that 75% of the polyester it uses for apparel and accessories comes from recycled sources by 2025, up from 55% last year. Sympatex similarly seeks to move away from new petroleum-derived resources “in the future”, in order to achieve circularity by 2030. Today, the Bavarian firm uses recycled and recyclable mono-materials in the making of its performance textiles, it said.
It is the “responsibility” of the outdoor industry to venture beyond the status quo when it comes to materials, commented apparel product manager at Sympatex, Anja Palic. “We need recyclable solutions to close the textile loop as fast as possible.”
Read our related technical feature, 'The patchy sustainability of recycled polyester', in WSA here.
