Adidas x Parley ocean plastic shoes
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
From 2015 to 2024 Adidas and Parley for the Oceans sold footwear made with material described as upcycled plastic waste intercepted before it reaches the ocean. A German report put the total at about 77 million pairs, and German television reported that part of the plastic did not come from Parley's own collections.
Reported by one German source and not independently confirmed; the final cumulative count rests on one source.
Status As of October 2026: the partnership ended at the end of 2024, and the cumulative pair count rests on one source.
What happened
Adidas and Parley for the Oceans ran a partnership from 2015 to 2024 in which footwear was made with material the partners described as upcycled plastic waste intercepted from beaches and coastal communities before it reaches the ocean. Climate Action reported pairs made with ocean plastic of about 1 million in 2017 and 5 million in 2018, with 11 million targeted for 2019. By about 2021 the total was reported at more than 30 million pairs. One German report put the total over the ten years at about 77 million pairs.
In 2022 reporting, part of the plastic was reported not to have come from Parley's own collections, according to German television. The partnership ended when the contract expired at the end of 2024; Adidas had told Parley in 2022. ZDF and Flip were reported as having revealed this.
The term 'ocean-bound plastic' is used in a separate certification scheme launched in June 2020 by Zero Plastic Oceans with Control Union. Its categories are plastic collected within 50 km of the coast, along waterways (within 200 m of rivers), along the shoreline (within 200 m of the coast) and fishing material. The 50 km figure derives from a 2015 study by Jambeck, which did not use the term. The UK Food Standards Agency stated that there is no agreed definition of the term, and Changing Markets described it as a common greenwashing claim. Separately, Australia's competition regulator, the ACCC, fined Clorox A$8.25 million over 'ocean plastic' claims.
- 2015Adidas and Parley for the Oceans partnership begins
- 2017About 1 million pairs made with ocean plastic
- 2018About 5 million pairs
- 201911 million pairs targeted
- 2020Ocean-bound plastic certification by Zero Plastic Oceans and Control Union launched (June)
- 2021More than 30 million pairs reported by about this year
- 2022Adidas tells Parley the partnership will end; reporting that part of the plastic did not come from Parley's own collections
- 2024Partnership ends when the contract expires at the end of the year; about 77 million pairs reported over the ten years
What was said
“upcycled plastic waste intercepted from beaches and coastal communities before it reaches the ocean.”
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
The material was described as upcycled plastic waste intercepted from beaches and coastal communities before it reaches the ocean.
SGI EuropeReported that part of the plastic did not come from Parley's own collection work.
Certification categories: within 50 km of the coast, waterways (within 200 m of rivers), shoreline (within 200 m of the coast) and fishing material.
Control UnionThere is no agreed definition of the term.
Described the term as a common greenwashing claim.
How it looked
Shown
- Footwear made with ocean plastic: about 1 million pairs in 2017 and 5 million in 2018, with 11 million targeted for 2019.Adidas, as reported by Climate Action · Climate Action
Recorded
- The material was defined as upcycled plastic waste intercepted from beaches and coastal communities before it reaches the ocean.
- More than 30 million pairs by about 2021.
- About 77 million pairs over the ten years of the partnership, per one German report.
- In 2022 reporting, part of the plastic did not come from Parley's own collections, per German television.
- The partnership ended at the end of 2024 when the contract expired; Adidas told Parley in 2022; ZDF and Flip revealed this.
- The ocean-bound plastic certification covers plastic collected up to 50 km from the coast; the UK Food Standards Agency says there is no agreed definition of the term.
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What nature saw
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.
Court
- None on record No court case on record.
Figures
- Insufficient Pairs produced: Cumulative total over ten years per one German report; the final count rests on one source.
Accounts
Record
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the 2019 annual report is said to state 'over eleven million pairs'; this comes from an AI-extracted summary and was not verified in the PDF.
- None on record The cumulative figure of about 77 million pairs rests on a single German report.
- None on record No data on a price premium for the Parley products were found in the sources reviewed.
- None on record The share of the plastic that did not come from Parley's own collections is not stated.
Did the harm stop?
The partnership ended at the end of 2024. The sources reviewed do not say whether the products were relabelled or withdrawn.
Who paid?
The sources reviewed give no price premium and no cost figure, so who paid for the 'ocean plastic' claim is not on record.
Sources
Press and investigations
- Adidas beendet Zusammenarbeit mit Parley for the OceansFashionUnited · 2024-04
Standard-setters and registries
- Ocean-bound plastic (OBP) certification programControl Union ·
Connected cases
- adidas unveiled a shoe prototype made from AMSilk spider-silk fibre Germany · 2016
- Adidas (Company) — here: Footwear brand and partner; there: Brand that unveiled the Futurecraft Biofabric prototype
- Clorox fined A$8.25m over 'ocean plastic' claim on garbage bags Australia · 2021–2025
- Control Union (Standard-setter) — here: Certifier of the ocean-bound plastic program (with Zero Plastic Oceans); there: Certification scheme defining ocean-bound plastic
- Four global fashion brands launch second-hand clothing recovery coalition in Ghana Ghana · 2026
- Adidas (Company) — here: Footwear brand and partner; there: Coalition member