Brazil, Portugal and the Netherlands among teams to wear Nike’s shirts made from recycled plastic bottles
When Kaka and Ronaldinho stride out onto the pitch for the World Cup in South Africa this summer, few of their millions of fans are likely to notice that their yellow jerseys are made from old plastic bottles.
But five-time winners Brazil, along with Portugal and the Netherlands, will for the first time be clad in shirts made from recycled polyester in a bid to make the tournament a fraction greener. The shirts, made by Nike, will also be worn at the finals by the teams of the USA, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Serbia, and Slovenia.
Fans supporting their country can buy away kits of the 100% recycled shirts from today, with home versions available from 1 May. They will cost £50, the same price as non-recycled shirts.
It takes up to eight recycled plastic bottles to make each of the shirts, which are sourced from Japanese and Taiwanese landfill and melted down before being processed into fabric. Nike claims the process cuts energy use by 30% compared with newly manufactured polyester.
guardian.co.uk