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Football Club develops kit made from recycled plastic bottles

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Football Club develops kit made from recycled plastic bottles

Polzeath FC was founded in 2017 by Sam Williams who put together the team consisting of a group of friends to compete in the Cornwall FA Flexi League.

It has been just a week since the global leaders descended upon the shores of Cornwall to discuss key issues including climate change and the environment. Long before the G7 Summit, many Cornwall-based organisations have been ploughing away with their own green agendas. Cornwall football club, Polzeath is a great example of such.

“It’s a great message but at first I was concerned with how the shirts would feel to play in. As soon as we received them however and I pulled it on it felt like a premium shirt. It’s a great idea and living right by the beach in Polzeath myself, I see the impact of plastic pollution on our coastal environment and our environment is really important to me, so this initiative makes me even prouder to play for the club.” – Club Captain Kristian Stafford

The club’s first team, which plays in the Duchy Football League in Cornwall, has formed a new partnership with Hope & Glory Sportswear to manufacture its adult teams kit, which is made entirely from recycled plastic bottles which otherwise would have ended up in landfill. In addition, for every shirt that Hope & Glory sell to the club, the company has pledged to plant a tree.

Both the shirt and shorts are made from rPET fabric, which is made from recycled plastic bottles that have been melted down to produce a fine yarn. Every shirt is manufactured using a piece of fabric made from the equivalent of approximately 16 plastic bottles. The EcoKit material behaves in the same way virgin polyester would meaning no difference in performance from standard kits. In fact, if anything, the EcoKit fabric has a more premium feel, smoother to the touch and slightly lighter.

The club, which recently won the Cornwall FA Flexi-League in a nail-biting finish against St Breward FC now boasts three men’s teams, who will be playing in the new kit when the season starts again in August.

“As a club we felt we wanted to do our bit where we can and be committed to sustaining the environment around us. We looked at various possibilities but going with an environmentally friendly option made perfect sense. It’s a positive statement we want to promote and has a clear message that we can all get behind.” – Club Vice-Chairman Paul Banks

The funding for the new kit has come from sponsors Sharp’s Brewery and Rock Oyster Festival, who have both come on board for the next four seasons.

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