How to get away with plastic recycling

We move boldly, both in what we make and in what we say. Our sportswear is 100% plastic-free, from sewing thread to final stitch. And when plastic recycling is hailed as the solution to the plastic crisis, we answer with facts: recycling plastic is recycling the problem. Promoting it as the cure is greenwashing. Statements like this spark strong reactions and some familiar arguments, adaptable and convenient, and diluting real progress. Because they are dangerous, we thought it was useful to list the recurring ones:

1. We are already working on circularity and decarbonising
   Fossil fuels and plastic are inextricably linked, by their origins, economics and widespread impact. Treating the planet’s problems like a buffet—picking some, ignoring others—isn’t strategy; it’s ignorance, and at worst, greenwashing. Real progress demands addressing the crisis as a whole and acknowledging the interdependence between topics. Yet what’s promoted is the recycling of toxic materials until they inevitably end up in landfills. If “circularity” means shifting problems instead of eliminating them, it doesn’t belong on the agenda.
   
2. Don’t look for perfection
   Who else will? There are thousands of sports brands. Not one shares our mission to go 100% plastic-free now. The science on plastic’s dangers is clear. Yet the standard industry response is to market recycling the problem as the solution. Without companies willing to refuse compromise, especially in fields comfortable with half-measures, there will be no change, no challenging voice, and ultimately nobody pushing to evolve.
3. Change must come from the customers
   Responsibility is shared. And right now, the producers sidestep responsibility for plastic’s chemical pollution. Consumers can only choose from what’s on the shelf, and if every shelf is stocked with recycled plastic, what choice is that? And when the manufacturers, who possess the information, sell without transparency about what’s really in products, how can people object, let alone require something better?
4. Change is incremental
   Change only happens with the right momentum. Take France’s PFAS legislation, among the world’s most ambitious plastic-pollutant laws. It passed in under three years, made possible through the combined push of civil society, NGOs, and government. But refusing to take strong actions like capping production is simply handing the task of creating momentum to the next generation, who will already be dealing with the effects of past inaction. What’s truly incremental isn’t the change, it’s the constant diversion of attention, the calculated avoidance of resistance. And the irony? We’re told to accelerate for corporate “progress,” while the measures that could protect life on this planet are endlessly delayed. 

Refusing these narratives is about recognising that they actively encourage the slowing down of a genuine move forward, until ultimately, the talk about environmental progress remains just that: talk. The dependence on plastics may make the phase-out difficult, but it doesn’t stop solutions like Mover from proving that drastic, viable, and attractive alternatives exist. What we need are tools, legislations, and organisations that recognise their regenerative potential and nurture it, not hinder it.