The sportswear giant has designed a range of shoes made from plastic waste collected from the ocean  

In a collaboration with Parley for the Oceans – an environmental organisation that raises awareness of the problem of plastic waste – Adidas designer Alexander Taylor has released a prototype trainer made from ocean debris and salvaged nets. Using Adidas’ existing boost sole, the new white and blue woven upper uses a yarn recycled from nets discarded by illegal fishing vessels.

Parley for the Oceans is an initiative that aims to protect ocean ecosystems, the damage of which is thought to be the single greatest threat to the survival of humanity. Overfishing and pollution is an increasing threat to biodiversity, and the collapse of all commercial fisheries is predicted to come about as soon as 2048. Parley tackles one of the biggest causes, which is plastic – there are an estimated 40 million pounds of plastic in the North Pacific Ocean alone, which end up being ingested by fish, whales and turtles.

They have teamed with a number of partner organisations to create sustainable threads and materials that use recycled waste, both helping to clean up the oceans and keep current plastics in a closed loop cycle, reducing the need for more. Last year a similar project was launched with G-Star Raw, which included a range of clothes designed using the recycled yarn. Elsewhere Studio Swine's Sea Chair project saw them capture plastic from the ocean, shred it, melt it down and mold it to create simple, attractive stools.