The Paris 2024 Olympic Games might not be the most sustainable ever, and here’s why

The Olympic Games? Sure! But let's make them fashionable and sustainable, said Paris. The goal was to make this edition the most sustainable yet. However, many accusations of greenwashing are emerging about the environmental promises that were made.

The overall goal is ambitious: Paris aims to cut the carbon footprint of this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in half compared to the average of London 2012 and Rio 2016.

There are many criteria for defining a sustainable event: the materials used in building the facilities, the type of energy supplied, merchandising, the number of visitors the city hosts during the event…But what about the athletes' clothing during the Games?

Among the major sponsors of Paris 2024 are PUMA Group , ASICS , 耐克 , 阿迪达斯 , and lululemon . These brands received a score of C+ or lower in the 2023 Fossil Free Fashion Scorecard by Stand.earth , partly due to their lack of commitment to phasing out fossil fuel-based materials.

In response, Adidas has stated that all the garments for Paris 2024 are made from more sustainable materials, such as recycled polyester and organic, recycled, and third-party certified cotton.

Puma has highlighted that its kits contain about 45% recycled content. Although the brand acknowledges that replacing 100% of petroleum-based polymers is challenging due to global recycling limitations, the company is gradually shifting to lower-carbon materials like recycled polyester.

Asics has showcased a 34% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions for certain outfits of the Japanese team compared to previous Games and has included carbon labeling on its designs.

Lululemon, the official apparel provider for the Canadian team at the Olympics, has recently been accused of greenwashing by Stand.earth, which is calling for the withdrawal of its “Be Planet” campaign.

As for Nike, the brand has avoided making any statements about the sustainability of its products used in the Olympic Games.

On the other hand, 酩悦·轩尼诗-路易·威登集团 , the event's main sponsor, has designed garments for medal bearers using textile scraps recycled by the French startup Weturn .

At the opening ceremony, Team USA wore 拉尔夫·劳伦 uniforms with polo shirts made from 100% recycled cotton. Team Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) partnered with Far Eastern New Century 遠東新世紀 for carbon-captured polyester, New Wide Group for cooling fabric, and Junmay Label Corp. for labels with sustainable yarns. Team Ireland sported LW Pearl Atelier by Laura Weber - Luxury Artisanal Textile & Embroidery formalwear, featuring ECO-Hybrid taffeta from recycled T-shirts and PET bottles.

However, the overall sustainability of the Olympic uniforms remains limited, and without accurate data backing up the brands' claims, it's hard to say if the Paris Games will actually be the most sustainable yet — at least when it comes to sportswear.

At BCome, we believe in using impact data to ensure transparency. Stay connected with us to get everything you need to assess the footprint of your fashion products:

• Updated white paper: Everything you need to know about LCA in fashion
• What LCA is and how your brand can measure its journey towards sustainability
• Why is data-driven integrative sustainability more relevant than ever in fashion?