The glossary

Cellulosic fibres are synthetic fibres, 100% cellulosic and biodegradable, produced from wood pulp (principally from Eucalyptus but also Oak or Birch) dissolved into a non-toxic and recyclable solvent.

At Decathlon, a product qualifies as Eco-designed when it covers at least one specific criteria. If it is made from cellulosic fibers, the main fabric has to have at least 70% of it.

For some products, we have to combine materials to get a level of performance. We are nevertheless careful to avoid combinations as much as possible and preferably opt for single material composition.

In the event of a mix of fabrics, both materials must have benefited from the eco-design approach.

Cold pad batch is a colouring process done at room temperature that helps to use less energy and, therefore, emits less CO2. It also uses less water compared to traditional dyeing techniques.

At DECATHLON, more than 70% of the product (in weight) has to use this technique to qualify as Eco-designed.

The first thing that each and every one of us can do to reduce our environmental impact is to change our consumption patterns. To achieve this, we must design a product to last and anticipate possible weak points.

At DECATHLON, we believe that the notion of longevity is significant when the life of a product is increased by more than 30% without sacrificing technical performance. It is at this point that it can be qualified as ecodesign.

Greige is the colour of the fabric's natural state, in other words, undyed. What, actually, is the connection between colour and pollution? Well the process of colouring textiles has a big environmental impact, on energy consumption and involves using lots of water and chemical products when soaking them in the dyeing vats. So choosing greige, therefore, means selecting the colour that pollutes less.

At DECATHLON, over 50% of the product (in weight) has to be made from a greige component to qualify as Eco-designed, thanks to this technique.

We often see what a chiné fabric looks like, but we know less about how it is obtained. Let's take the mystery out of it: chiné is a mixture of dyed fibres and greige (greige is a "raw" colour, not dyed). This more subtle colour allows us to offer a textile with a lower impact than traditional fabrics (the gain for the environment depends on the percentage of greige used).

At Decathlon, a product qualifies as Eco-designed when it covers at least one specific criteria. If they are heather coloured threads (yarn tint), over 70% of the product (in weight) has to use this technique.

It is a design method that consists of creating a sewing pattern for textile products that works a bit like a puzzle: the idea is to have fun leaving as few scraps or unused parts of the materials as possible. Less scraps, less waste!

Cotton from organic farming is grown without using chemical fertilisers, pesticides or GMOs, reducing the risk of soil and groundwater contamination. Thanks to a more environmentally responsible practices, this method of production helps to better manage cotton growing.

At DECATHLON, the product's main fabric has to be made of over 90% of organically grown cotton to qualify as an Eco-design product, thanks to this technique.

Using recycled cotton is an interesting solution because it does not require new cotton growing.However, this is only possible up to maximum of 30 to 40% because recycled fibres are too short and need to be combined with virgin cotton.

At DECATHLON, the main fabric has to be made of at least 28% recycled cotton to qualify as "Eco-design", thanks to this technique.

Polyamide is a synthetic material made from fossil fuel-based resources. Using recycled polyamide means collecting and reprocessing production offcuts or products destined for landfills instead of using new fossil fuel-based resources.

At Decathlon, a product qualifies as Eco-designed when it covers at least one specific criteria. If it is made from recycled polyamide, the main fabric has to have at least 70% of it.

Polyester is a recycled material reprocessed from production offcuts or products destined for landfills, preventing the use of new fossil-fuel based resources.

At Decathlon, a product qualifies as Eco-designed when it covers at least one specific criteria. If it is made from recycled polyester, the main fabric has to have at least 70% of it.

We are committed to using 100% of polyester coming from more sustainable sources (recycled or colour impregnated). On the 31st December 2021, we were at 40%.

Using recycled polypropylene helps to prevent the use of fossil fuel-based resources.

Polypropylene is a synthetic material made from fossil fuel-based resources. Using recycled polyamide means collecting and reprocessing production offcuts or products intended for landfills instead of using new fossil fuel-based resources.

At Decathlon, a product qualifies as Eco-designed when it covers at least one specific criteria. If recycled polypropylene is used it must contribute to at least 25% of the product's weight.

Recycled rubber reduces the use of virgin oil resources. Bonus: it is often made from used tires. Recycled rubber can be used in shoe soles or sports equipment as a replacement for virgin rubber.

Using recycled wool is interesting because it does not require farming sheep again to produce wool. However, it is only possible up to 25% (for a t-shirt) and approximately 70% (for a layer 2 such as a pullover), because the fibres are shorter and have to be combined with other fibres to meet user features.

At Decathlon, a product qualifies as Eco-designed when it covers at least one specific criteria. If it is made from recycled wool, the main fabric has to have at least 25% of it.

Repairability is about being able to offer a solution, should the product get damaged or fail. A product's potential repairability is defined according to 4 criteria:
- availability of documentation,
- the product can potentially be dismantled,
- availability of spare parts,
- the price of repair.

At DECATHLON, 80% of the most frequent product damage and failures are repairable to qualify as Eco-designed.

Dyeing fabric requires using large amounts of water, and also producing waste water coming from the dyeing vats. The single yarn dyeing technique (also knows as bi-ton) helps to reduce this environmental impact by dyeing one out of every two fabric threads, subsequently reducing consumption and the impact on water.

At Decathlon, a product qualifies as Eco-designed when it covers at least one specific criteria. If it uses single yarn dyeing, over 50% of the product (in weight) has to use this technique.

Solution dyed involves integrating colour pigments directly when spinning the yarn. The benefit of solution dyeing is that it saves energy (carbon impact) and water. The solution-dyed is a polymer. In the colour's formula, there is a pigment, a dye that produces the tint. These two components (the main polymer and the colour formula) are heated up and mixed in an endless screw, an extrusion of which comes out a yarn. All that remains to do is stretch and spin it around a reel.

This colour impregnation means integrating colour pigments when spinning the yarn, helping to reduce the considerable environmental impact of dyeing associated with water usage and contamination.

AT DECATHLON, over 50% of the product (in weight) has to use the solution dyed technique to be certified as Eco-designed.

"Waterless dye" is a dyeing process that works with CO2 in a closed loop, with 95% being reusable. Using a certain amount of heat and pressure, the CO2 acquires properties that permeate and carry the dye into the fabric without using water, helping to reduce the impact compared to standard dyeing.


At DECATHLON, 50% of a product (in weight) has to use the waterless dyeing technique to qualify as "Eco-design," thanks to this process.