Santini prioritizes environment sustainability with 2020 Trek-Segafredo kit
While Trek-Segafredo signature jersey colors are white and red, this year Santini managed to sneak a little green into the design.
To lessen the kit’s environmental impact, the apparel maker debuted recycled fabrics in the Trek-Segafredo 2020 jersey and avoided all plastic packaging which saved the use of more than 10,000 plastic bags.
For the first time Trek-Segafredo men’s and women’s racing jersey incorporates fabrics made of recycled materials. Along the back and sleeves, Santini used a high performance fabric made from recycled plastic bottles. On that part of a jersey, a fabric must hug the athlete’s body for aerodynamic performance. Santini’s marketing director Paola Santini said OPY performs technically as well as the traditional polyester fabric it replaced.
“Our suppliers have been doing this kind of recycled fabrics for a few years. Now, they to get to a point where recycled fabric is as technical and performance oriented as nonrecycled materials,” Santini said.
For the race jersey’s front, sides, and pockets, Santini chose a fabric called eco-bicimania made by Sitip which recycles discarded polyester and elastin into fresh fabric. Using these types of fabrics is something Santini has hoped to do for a while, but they waited until recycled fabrics’ technical performance was unquestionably at the highest level.
I’m really proud to tell people our kit includes recycled fabric.
Tayler Wiles in the Trek-Segafredo 2020 women's racing kit.
“I’m really proud to tell people our kit includes recycled fabric,” said Trek-Segafredo rider Tayler Wiles. “Being environmentally conscious is really critical right now. Climate change is a very real thing. We should do anything we can to be more proactive in every aspect of our lives.”
Wiles is active in promoting high quality, environmentally sustainable cyclewear because she sees it as a crucial improvement to make in her wardrobe.
“Even five years ago people weren’t aware of the waste created through the apparel world,” said Wiles. “The clothes you wear on the bike are just as important as the ones you wear off the bike. It’s important you know where those products come from and that they are made sustainably and of good quality material that lasts longer.”
Santini specializes in top of the line bike apparel that performs well and lasts a long time. With this move into recycled fabrics, they push the sustainability of their clothing even further.
Paola Santini proudly explained how their efforts to reduce plastic packaging also improve the sustainability of the Trek-Segafredo kit.
For the 2020 season, every rider receives more than 75 garments in their kit. In years past, each of those items would be sealed into a plastic bag. This year, Santini is going plastic free by folding those garments into a piece of luggage to deliver the kit to each rider.
“It’s nice that Santini is thinking about reducing plastic packaging,” said Trek-Segafredo rider Richie Porte. “The world is becoming more aware of how we use plastic and how to minimize our footprint. Any little thing we can do in the cycling world, we should do it.”
Through Santini’s changes to reduce plastic packaging for the Trek-Segafredo team and staff clothing, they are preventing the use of 12,000 plastic bags in 2020.
