Not only does sports equipment contain polluting components and consume a lot of resources, it also generates vast amounts of waste with many products purchased only to be used too little or, conversely, damaged too quickly, and discarded prematurely. ESSEC Alumni Félix Banvillet, Sustainable Development Leader at Decathlon Australia, Bertrand Reygner, Technical Director at Ecologic France, and Boris Pivaudran, President at The Masherbrum Company present their solutions to the issue. 

How to reduce the environmental impact of sport? by Louis Armengaud Wurmser and with kind acknowledgements to ESSEC Alumni. This article was first published in Reflets magazine #149.

Félix Banvillet, Sustainability Officer at Decathlon Australia

At Decathlon, the production and transport of goods represents 86.5% of emissions, so this is where we act as a priority. We have notably adopted the EcoDesign approach which aims to consume fewer resources for manufacturing as well as to increase reparability, and which already concerns a third of our range. 84% of our stores use renewable energy. And by 2026, we are aiming for 100% recycled waste and 100% of salaries with a variable portion indexed to climate performance. A concern shared by many players in the sector. “The use of natural fibers rather than polyester is experiencing significant growth; some have even made it their core business, like Patagonia or Picture. Cycling is proving more difficult to decarbonize, but brands are working on reusing steel from frames or rubber from tires.

However, there is no international consensus on the industry’s ecological objectives. And the risks of greenwashing cannot be ignored. In this regard, Australia seems exemplary to me: here, we do not have the right to use the terms “eco-friendly” or “carbon-neutral”, nor even to display logos with leaves. Communication must remain humble and scientifically based, with publicly accessible figures.

In fact, the room for progress remains significant. I particularly believe in the development of circularity. Sports products are suitable for this (camping, hiking, kayaking, children’s bikes, etc.) and this usage economy is being boosted by startups like Campsider or Biked. Large groups seem to me to have every interest in collaborating with these partners, while waging their own internal battles. 

Bertrand Reygner, technical and R&D Director of Ecologic France

Every year, 150,000 tonnes of sporting and leisure articles (ASL) enter the market. That’s a deposit of waste estimated at 90,000 tonnes. The eco-organization Ecologic France has received approval to manage the end of life of these products. We are acting on several dimensions. First, we label repairers and grant a financial bonus to consumers who use them, with the aim of increasing the use of their services by 18%. 

Secondly, we list more than 200 reuse players and support them with the ambition of giving a second life to 8,000 tonnes of items in 2024. Thirdly, we bring together 900 stores and 1,200 recycling centers and organize collections at recycling stations. winter, on the coasts or even in places where sports are practiced, to recover 30,000 tonnes of waste in 2024.

Finally, we dismantle the objects and recycle the materials that can be recycled in our processing centers. Non-recyclable ASLs are the subject of R&D to find alternative solutions. Producers and distributors are themselves involved in the sector. Some ensure the recovery of ASL internally in order to reuse their components in the manufacture of new products. Ecologic supports them through the producer-recycler system. Professional organizations, Union Sport et Cycle, Gifap, Snafam, FIN, OSV, Eurosima, FFCM, the Ministry of Sports and the CNOSF, also play the role of relay to economic and sporting stakeholders.

France is a pioneer in managing the end of life of ASLs. We are the only country to have established an extended responsibility chain in this area. At most, there is a private ski boot recycling initiative in Italy, but it remains at the R&D stage. 

Boris Pivaudran, founder of Masherbrum

Today, outdoor textiles are dominated by 100% synthetics. We want to prove that we can combine performance, comfort and eco-design. Masherbrum therefore offers mountain clothing with an environmental impact reduced to a minimum. We work with alternative materials from either recycling, organic farming, or closed-loop production processes – such as our wood cellulose fibers from sustainably managed forests. 

We reduce or eliminate treatments, coatings and dyes, design our models to minimize the number of parts to be sewn and optimize cutting to limit material loss. We also centralize our spinning, knitting, dyeing and tailoring operations in the same geographical area to limit inter-factory transport – namely Braga, in the north-east of Portugal, which also has the advantage of offering a mix 63% renewable energy. We choose demanding labels: Bluesign®, GOTS, Reach, Oekotex Standard 100, Fair Wear, FSC, PEFC… And, for each product sold, we donate €1 to the Mountain Wilderness association for the protection of mountain spaces and we plant a tree in the Centre-Val de Loire region with the Duramen association.

The brand also provides education on its blog. Overview: Preconceived idea No.1: a material of natural origin offers no guarantee of being eco-responsible; it depends on the source and the degree of processing. Preconceived idea No.2: a bio-sourced product is not necessarily biodegradable, and a biodegradable product is generally only biodegradable under industrial landfill conditions. Preconceived idea No.3: the words “Made in France” on a textile only mean that the last manufacturing stage took place on national territory; the garment may very well contain a fabric knitted and dyed in Turkey, made from Chinese yarn from Uzbek cotton. 

Useful links:

• Link up with Félix Banvillet, Bertrand Reygner, and Boris Pivaudran on LinkedIn
• Read a related article: The Fashion and retail Industry: Regenerative business models
• Discover ESSEC Business School, France-Singapore-Morocco
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