Japanese sportswear company Asics, is collaborating with the Charity I:Collect on a sports apparel recycling and reuse initiative in Europe. The initiative will be launched at the Barcelona Marathon on March 10 where the two companies will work together in order to collect used sports apparels and footwear for reuse or recycling.

The program will enable the recycling and reuse of Asics products at eight marathons happening across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. A product-driven company, Asics is shifting to more sustainable materials and engaging its customers and consumers on the journey to a circular business model is at the heart of its sustainability strategy. While working on its global program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Asics has identified that more than 80 per cent of CO2 emissions originate from the processes and materials that are being used to create footwear and apparel and end of life treatment of sold products.

Asics aims at collecting more than 30,000 pieces of sports apparels from consumers in Japan. The collected pieces will be further recycled by the year 2020. The aim is to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 55 per cent across the globe by the year 2030.