Our commitment to limiting plastic pollution

Measuring and reducing DECATHLON's impact

DECATHLON is conducting research and modelling work to ultimately reduce the potential for the release of plastics generated by its activities. In 2023, its teams developed a dynamic dashboard to make a fresh assessment of the company’s footprint in terms of plastic pollution at the Group level, as well as for the countries, sports and industrial processes. This tool was developed with Environmental Action using the Plastic Leak Project and Plastic Footprint Network methodologies, and aims to improve data reliability and automate its reporting.

Teams are using this new study to create a reduction trajectory that aims to keep the company’s activities within planetary boundaries. To this end, they have already identified levers to be activated:
- Strengthening circular business models (second life, rental, repair)
- Replacing single-use plastics with alternatives having less of an impact
- Recycling sports equipment at the end of its life, and managing waste
Through these studies, Decathlon also aims to help create an international standard that will ultimately include plastic-use reduction objectives in a legal framework applying to all industry players.

Where do single-use plastics fit in DECATHLON's value chain?

From a global perspective, DECATHLON eliminated 1663 tonnes of single-use plastic across its entire value chain in 2024 (transport and sales packaging, hangers, single-use plastic consumables in warehouses and shops).

Since 2020, the company has therefore reduced its use of single-use plastic by 57% internationally (use of plastic packaging and hangers in shops). The company will now focus its efforts on reducing the use of hangers in shops and optimising the use of palletising film in warehouses.

Our commitment to limiting plastic pollution

Advancing research on plastic fibre fragmentation

Teammates who are members of the internal Textile Microplastic Leak project are also continuing their work on microplastics following the impact analyses carried out in 2021.

Since 2022, all of the technical parameters of textiles (thread, fabric, structure, etc.) have been analysed in-depth by a researcher preparing a doctoral thesis. By the end of 2025, the aim is to create a database that will be used to estimate the release of textile structures based on the design methods. The results of this research will also be used to draft a precise and rigorous trajectory as part of the commitment signed with the Microfibre Consortium to reduce textile fibre fragmentation in the natural environment by 2030.

DECATHLON is continuing to test various threads, fabrics and knits, conducting a total of 87 tests in 2024, and loads the results into the Microfibre Consortium database. In this way, Decathlon is contributing to global research on the subject while moving ahead on constructing its own internal trajectory.

The company has also continued its involvement with the Plastic Footprint Network this year, in order to contribute to discussions on adding this issue to the product environmental rating system.

Moving toward eliminating single-use plastics

DECATHLON teams have defined an environmental strategy that takes into account all stages of the packaging life cycle.
The company aims to reduce the impact of packaging through a continuous improvement approach, with the goal of 99% of its packaging to be FSC and PEFC certified by 2026, while eliminating 90% of single-use plastics in its packaging by the same year.

This strategy is divided into three main areas:
- Eliminating plastic components, without replacing them
- Redesigning and replacing plastic components -with cellulosic materials
- Working on circularity to move from single use to multiple uses

Packaging for finished products (excluding hangers)

In 2020, DECATHLON has estimated the quantities of plastic needed to package its products at 7,000 tonnes for 2019.

At the same time, new work on the design of product packaging was carried out in 2024, which avoided the consumption of an additional 860 tonnes of plastic per year worldwide.

Since 2020, DECATHLON's efforts have contributed to the elimination of almost 82% of single-use plastic used in product packaging.

Packaging used in logistics

In 2024, 1,512 tonnes of single-use plastic packaging were used in logistics (vs. 1,728 tonnes in 2023). To reduce its consumption of plastic packaging, DECATHLON is currently developing cellulose-based alternatives (paper adhesive tape, paper cushioning, etc.) and is working to replace plastic stretch film in warehouses.

Checkout bags

In 2024, DECATHLON did not purchase any new single-use plastic checkout bags for its shops.

Until June 2024, only remaining stocks were offered in shops. By 31 December 2024, the company had used up all its stocks and no longer offered single-use plastic checkout bags in its own shops worldwide.

Clothes hangers

In 2024, DECATHLON continued its actions to limit its consumption of single-use plastic hangers by:
- designing hangers from recycled materials: 73.8% recycled material (recycled polypropylene) used in the manufacture of new hangers in 2024 (68.7% in 2023);
- collection of hangers used for sale: 62.7% of hangers collected (65% in 2023).

This drop in collection, which mainly affects France and Italy, can be explained in part by new in-store procedures, particularly for the bending of products;
- reuse of hangers: 76.5 million hangers reused (71.3 million in 2023), thanks in particular to progress made in facilitating the return of hangers collected in shops to product suppliers based in Asia (32% reuse rate vs. 35% in 2023).

Following on from the actions and tests implemented in 2024, DECATHLON will pursue the following actions in 2025:
- replacing 16 million plastic hangers with cardboard hangers for certain swimwear ranges;
- Strengthening the traceability of hangers collected and sent to the reuse and recycling platform;
- the closed-loop use in each shop of circular hangers equipped with RFID chips and compatible with the majority of jackets and jumpers;
- Gradually replacing the use of hangers for certain textile products by encouraging reuse and recycling.

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