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April 26, 2024
Embracing sustainability, former NCAA Division I soccer player Magdalen Pike founded a US nonprofit startup in 2023 that upcycles sports gear so that ‘every kid can play’. Operating as Executive Director of Passback, she is working to create a circular economy for sports gear and textiles based on her own experiences of seeing excess equipment go unused or be thrown out.
According to UN DESA, the global sports sector is responsible for emissions equal to that of a medium-sized country. And supply chains for sports-related gear are one of the areas playing a sizeable role in affecting the world’s climate. In a recent interview with the St. Louis Business Journal (SLBJ), Pike noted some eye-opening statistics. “It takes 2,200 gallons of water to manufacture one pair of athletic shoes and the vast majority of these don’t reach the full lifecycle of their potential. I read a statistic that it’s estimated that 170 million pairs of athletic shoes wind up in a landfill in the United States annually, and that’s just like all plastic or rubber.”
The organization sees this as opportunity to empower and innovate in support of the environment and local communities, starting with soccer gear. Partnerships with sports clubs, schools and retailers fuel its reuse and recycling solution. For clubs and retailers, Passback provides savings and an easier way to get rid of surplus gear, including balls, safety gear, cleats, kits, hats, water bottles and much more. For young people and families in underserved communities, it provides high-quality products for free. Additionally, the nonprofit runs a re-commerce store with items sold at a fraction of the retail price and proceeds reinvested in its mission.
One of the organization’s core values is balance: “Our ethos revolves around achieving equilibrium, bridging gaps between socio-economic disparities. We advocate for a conscious approach to possessions, rejecting both excess and scarcity and champion the principles of minimalism and moderation,” is stated on its website.
Passback is also focused on research, creating datasets to measure the length of time consumers use products and material weights. The data is used to enhance operational efficiency and is also shared with brands in the effort to affect change in their product design and manufacturing processes. It also is sourcing solutions for non-recyclable materials. Plastic and metal items that aren’t eligible for recycling within the sports industry are tracked and repurposed in order to prevent them from ending up in landfills.
Currently the Missouri-based organization’s only employee, 28-year-old Pike has ambitions to grow nationwide. “I want to be in every socioeconomically divided city across the US. I want to be so good at reuse within sports and soccer that there’s a big green Passback bin at every soccer complex. How cool would that be? That is my dream,” she told the SLBJ.
Sources: Passback, St. Louis Business Journal
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