Adidas have taken another step forward in sustainability with the completion of a football field made entirely out of plastic bottles.
The global brand has taken 1.8 plastic bottles and made a special football field for Miami Edison High School.
A typical football pitch uses a large amount of virgin plastics and re-ground rubber. However, the completion of this field goes to show the importance of reusing and recycling, as bottles that could easily have found their way into the ocean have been used effectively in a new resource.
James Carney, vice president of global brand strategy for Adidas, told CNN that the sustainable field was made from plastic bottles sourced from remote islands, beaches, coastal communities and shorelines.
The reused plastics would then be washed and cleaned before being transformed into infill, the key component that created the artificial field.
The infill appears as pellets, and is crucial to the overall function of the field. They mainly influence the playability, performance and safety of the conditions of the field. It is responsible for the traction of the players, and it also serves as a cushion for players when they slide, dive or fall. It has the capability to stand up to the rigours of the game and proves just as effective as a standard synthetic pitch.
“We believe that through sport we have the power to change lives, and this field is a demonstration of our taking action on that belief,” Cameron Collins, the North America director of football at Adidas, said in a statement.
“More than a place for these young athletes to play, it’s a reminder of our collective responsibility to end plastic waste.”
Adidas donated the field made from the large amount of plastic waste to Miami Edison High School, which is a short drive away from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, the home of Super Bowl LIV between San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs.
Adidas is well-known for innovating with the reuse and recycling of polluting plastics and developing new sportswear and sporting goods from them – the new field is just another positive advancement from the apparel company.
