PETpla.net Insider 06+07 / 2014

PET - THE NEXT GENERATION 36 PET planet insider Vol. 15 No. 06+07/14 www.petpla.net rPET is playing its part in the Fifa World Cup PET on the ball! The 2014 Fifa World Cup Finals in Brazil will feature a range of recycling and other initiatives that will make it probably the most sustainable world sporting event ever. From foot- ball shirts to seat lines, recycled PET bottles are playing their part. Recycled PET (rPET), which is found in a wide range of applications, is the unheralded centre of world attention from June 12 to July 13, as 32 teams take to the field in the 2014 Fifa World Cup finals. Brazil, the host nation and among the favourites, was one of several teams playing in Nike- branded shirts, shorts and socks made from rPET. Both England and the USA are also on board, wearing shorts made of 100% recycled polyester; shirts of 96%; and socks – a first this year – with 78% recycled material. Each player’s kit uses material made from an average of 18 recycled plastic bottles. The trend is becoming well established and has been headlined from the start by sports squads and major sport- ing events. Team USA won the 2012 Olympic Games basketball gold medal in shirts and shorts produced from rPET. Nike, the sporting footwear and apparel giant, has recycled almost two billion bottles into team kit since 2010; that is enough to cover over 2,800 full- sized football pitches. The kits are examples of high-tech in action; they are much more than just uniforms. Each one is made for the player who will wear it. Before the kits were supplied Nike first did a full body scan of each player on the Brazil- ian and other national teams. Brazil is hot all year and June 2014 will be no exception, so regulating body tempera- ture during matches is an essential design element. The 2014 Fifa World Cup new kits combine Nike Dri-Fit technology with ‘burnout’ mesh and laser-cut ventilation holes, for localised cooling where the need is determined. Dri-Fit ‘wicks’ away moisture from the skin, helping the player to feel cool and to avoid feeling sweat-drenched in the middle of the game. The shorts are more than decorative, as well; they are designed to reduce the bruises that players get on their hips and thighs when they slide along the ground in their quests to win the ball. Luiz Felipe Scolari, Brazil’s Man- ager who was known as ‘Big Phil’ during his time managing English Premier League team Chelsea, has already tasted World Cup success, having managed Brazil to its fifth triumph in 2002. He likes the kit but wants to render it out of date before the end of July. “The shirt looks great, the only thing missing is a sixth star,” Scolari said. “We aim to have that on there after the World Cup.” Thousands of spectators attend- ing the final on Sunday, July 13 at the new Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro will also be doing their bit for the environment – although they might not realise it. Two years ago, Coca- Cola, Inc., one of the World Cup’s main sponsors, launched a recycling campaign that encouraged customers to dispose of their empty Coke PET bottles in one of around 100 collection points made available by Coca-Cola Brazil in the city of Rio. The empties were collected, recycled into rPET and used to make 6,773 seats, ready to take the strain of excited supporters throughout the tournament. PET bottle recycling in Brazil is being encouraged by a number of initiatives, sponsored and reported by AbiPET, the country’s industrial asso- ciation. Its latest survey reported that 294,000t of PET were recycled in 2011 and that the recovery rate is now over 50%.