By releasing its product carbon-impact data, ASICS joins a growing number of companies sharing this information to help consumers working to address their environmental impacts make more educated purchasing decisions.
Global sportwear brand ASICS has become the
latest company to introduce product carbon-footprint labeling. The landmark 30th
iteration of the company’s GEL-KAYANO™
series, released
Thursday and available in stores July 1, will be the first of many ASICS
products to feature labeling with the total amount of CO2e emissions emitted
across the product’s lifecycle.
With the introduction of its product carbon-impact data, ASICS joins fellow
footwear giant
Allbirds
and a growing number of companies from a variety of industries — including
food,
personal
care
and even
travel
— that are sharing this
information
on their products and offerings to help consumers working to address their
environmental impacts to make more educated purchasing decisions. The GEL-KAYANO
series has been at the forefront of ASICS’ dedication to transparency in
sustainability. The GEL-KAYANO 17 was the prototype of ASICS’ “Lifecycle CO2e
emission” research in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology back in 2012. GEL-KAYANO 30 continues this legacy. Not only is it
the first ASICS shoe with a label of its lifecycle CO2e emissions — evolved from
the original research ASICS completed with MIT — but the shoe’s carbon footprint
is also 14 percent lower than the industry average.*
Image credit: ASICS
At Sustainable Brands®’ recent Brand-Led Culture
Change
event, Alice Mitchell —
ASICS’ General Manager of Global Category Marketing — explained the ethos at the
core of the brand.
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“At ASICS, we've long understood that our purpose of uplifting the minds of
people through movement is inseparable from the need to ensure that we do so
sustainably,” Mitchell said. “ASICS was founded to lift the spirits of the world
through sport. It is why we are called ASICS — which is a Latin phrase, ‘Anima
Sana in Corpore Sano,’ meaning ‘a sound mind in a sound body.’ But in order to
achieve a sound mind in a sound body, we need a sound earth to run on.”
Mitchell also mentioned ASICS’ forthcoming commitment to product
carbon-footprint labeling.
“From this year onwards, consumers will benefit from ASICS labeling product with
the total amount of CO2e emissions emitted across its lifecycle — allowing
wearers to make decisions that not only benefit mind and body, but also the
planet,” she said. “We are dedicated to measuring and reducing our product
carbon footprint, alongside all ASICS operations, to continue bringing the
benefits of movement to the world we love to run in.”
This milestone follows ASICS’ 2022 launch of the GEL-LYTE™ III CM
1.95
sneaker, which emits just 1.95kg CO2e across its lifecycle — significantly
lighter than the lowest CO2e sneakers available on the market at that point. It
represented a significant leap forward by ASICS in its commitment to achieve
net-zero emissions by 2050.
To learn more about ASICS' commitment to sustainability, visit
https://asics.com/mk/sustainability.
*Assessed using consistent methodology across ASICS’ carbon footprint
methodology and the most comprehensive reporting available for industry average
running shoes, conducted by MIT). Learn more about
ASICS’ calculation methodology
here.
Published Jun 2, 2023 11am EDT / 8am PDT / 4pm BST / 5pm CEST
Sustainable Brands Staff