Reflo is a 100% recycled sportswear brand making big moves, even England Captain Harry Kane is a backer.
It is trying to stop the fast fashion side of sports gear by recycling clothing – re using old footie tops or othe sports gear and then turning into new material for another season. I asked Rory why tackle sports?
He told me : “I intrinsically believe as a sports fan, as someone who plays sports and someone who works in sport, that sport ultimately has a power for good and can do a lot more than most things can. And I think the reason is that sport can be quite tribal, so it’s something that people really feel attached to.
“You don’t have to be the best sportsman in the world to support your local football team, you feel like you’re part of that team. And that tribal nature really brings people into that. And I think it’s something that can bring people together. Sport fundamentally is something that is community driven.”
Reflo started when Rory and his old school friend and business partner got together, he worked in plastics, Rory was thinking about sports clothing. And it call came down to disposing of old plastic water bottles!
“Where he worked there was a problem with three container loads worth of plastic bottles. And he asked, What can we do with them? And he was told, well, incinerate them, throw them into landfill. We said, well, there must be something better to do than that, so we went on a mission to find a better solution. And we said, we’re going to recycle it into fabric.”
Now Reflo is already supplying teams in Formula E and is about to do a deal with two football clubs, as well as other sports. They aim to ensure the consumer gets a full lifecycle experience, which Rory says will make them truly sustainable.
“Our jersey next year will be 100% recycled. So made of 100% recycled waste. The big innovation in 0ur football jersey is it will be the first 100% recyclable jersey as well. Meaning post season, we can take it back and recycle it again.
“The consumer can scan a QR code in the back of the neck and send it to us and we’ll take it and recycle it. And physically that will happen. It’s not one of these things. Yeah, it’s recyclable and that no one knows how to recycle it.
“But also the club and all of the unused kit, old kit will be collected on mass, send that back to us, which will also be recycled. We take it and recycle it back into pellets of recycled polyester which you can then start that process again.”
Clever stuff indeed, listen to the whole chat now and please subscribe.
Copyright © 2025 Energy Live News LtdELN