ASICS has committed to reduce product related greenhouse gas emissions by 55% globally by 2030 and will implement product recycling programmes at eight of its biggest sponsored events in Europe in 2019.

The European initiative follows the recent announcement by ASICS that 30,000 pieces of sports apparel will be collected from consumers in Japan to be recycled toward 2020.

ASICS Europe has partnered with I:CO, a leading innovator in the sustainable collection, reuse and recycling of clothing and shoes, to implement a programme to enable the recycling and reuse of its products at eight marathons across EMEA.

Launching at the Barcelona Marathon on 10 March 2019, ASICS and I:CO will work to collect used sports apparel and footwear for reuse or recycling ASICS also ensures that any merchandising and promotional apparel developed for the races is made from sustainable materials.

The programme will be delivered at eight of ASICS largest sponsored races across Europe in 2019 including the Paris Marathon, Barcelona Marathon, and Stockholm Marathon.

“As a product driven company, shifting to more sustainable materials and engaging our customers and consumers on our journey to a circular business model are at the heart of our sustainability strategy,” said Romy Miltenburg, Manager CSR & Sustainability EMEA at ASICS. “Working on our global programme to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in alignment with the Science Based Targets initiative, we have identified that more than 80% of our CO2 emissions originate from the processes and materials we use to create our footwear and apparel and end of life treatment of sold products.”

As part of the programme, ASICS is calling on runners and supporters to return their used sports apparel and footwear at the Barcelona Marathon Expo or at the Barcelona flagship store located at Avinguda Diagonal. As a thank you for teaming up with ASICS on a more sustainable world, participants will receive a discount voucher that can be used on a next purchase.

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