BURLINGTON — Before the 2026 FIFA World Cup even kicked off, the tournament was projected to generate over 9 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, making it the most polluting World Cup to date.
The increase in emissions, calculated in a much-cited report by environmental think-tank New Weather Institute, is largely blamed on the expanded number of teams in the tournament, along with the far distances teams must travel between stadiums. However, sports apparel can also be a significant contributor to a club’s carbon footprint.
The majority of soccer jerseys are made out of polyester, a non-biodegradable synthetic fabric derived from fossil fuels. An estimated 70 million barrels worth of oil are used to produce polyester fiber every year, producing nearly 5.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide per shirt, a 2019 report from the U.K. Parliament found.
According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, in 2021, the top 10 soccer clubs in the world sold more than 17 million polyester shirts. Meanwhile, the UN Environment Program estimates that every second, one garbage-truck-worth of textiles is sent to a landfill or incinerated.
As the issue of sustainability in soccer takes the pitch, one local team, the Vermont Green, is accepting the challenge of designing soccer kits that prioritize a sustainable, circular economy.
For Vermont Green co-founder Patrick Infurna, the decision to focus on eco-friendly apparel comes from the team’s homegrown values and mission to promote sustainability.
“Obviously, we see it as the right thing to do, and we see it as something that is our own kind of personal challenge to try to challenge the norms of professional sport,” he said.
To achieve this goal, the team partners with various environmentally conscious producers, including Player Layer, a British company that uses recycled materials in its apparel.
Player Layer is also a member of Cascale, a global non-profit working to combat climate change and promote workers’ rights in the apparel industry. Member organizations use the non-profit’s Higg Index Tools to quantify the environmental impacts of their chosen materials and production processes, helping groups make more eco-conscious decisions.
Sustainable production is not the only factor considered in manufacturing the Green’s jerseys. Each jersey and training top, designed by club co-founder Matthew Wolff, features the logo of Burlington-based non-profit 1% for the Planet, whose members agree to donate 1% of profits to local environmental organizations.
“The jerseys are meant to inspire with their material, but also with their design,” Infurna said.
As a member, Vermont Green partners with local groups such as We Are Neutral, a non-profit that helps people and businesses understand and address their environmental footprints.
Wolff’s latest training top design, released in partnership with Ben & Jerry’s, conveys the team’s sustainability mission with a bright, floral pattern. Each top is made from approximately 23 recycled plastic water bottles and meets the Global Recycled Standard, which says products must use at least 20% recycled materials, among other requirements.
Still, while polyester and other synthetic fabrics are technically recyclable, in practice, the process is complicated, said Kelly McDowell, a professor of sustainable fashion at the University of Vermont.
According to McDowell, to recycle polyester, it must first be melted into pellets or a solution, then have various chemicals added before being processed back into a usable fiber.
Many of those technologies are still too costly, energy-intensive and small-scale to meet demand, McDowell said, especially compared with recycling organic materials.
“That’s the difference where you need a larger production process in a factory to recycle and reuse the polyester, and therefore, more chemicals come into play with synthetics,” she said.
Polyester also breaks down during recycling, said McDowell, meaning there will still be a waste product that eventually needs to be discarded.
Joe Whitten, the co-founder and CEO of Apparel Impact, a New England-based textile and reuse company, said creating a circular economy involves more than just recycling.
“At its core, the circular economy is about keeping products and materials in use for as long as possible instead of following the traditional ‘make, use, dispose’ model. In textiles, that means extending the life of clothing through reuse first, then recycling when reuse is no longer possible.”
The Vermont Green has already taken steps in this direction. Rather than creating two separate “home” and “away” kits, the Green reuse the previous season’s home kits as the next season’s away jerseys.
The team also accounts for overproduction, opting to let merchandise sell out rather than overstocking and avoiding marketing tactics that push merchandise, such as flash sales. The Green also runs a Closed Loop Program with apparel supplier Recover Brands, which allows fans to bring used clothing to games to be collected, recycled and returned to the supply chain.
The team’s partnership with Recover Brands, which uses 100% recycled or organic materials, has prevented 37,573 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions and diverted 62,752 plastic bottles from the landfill, according to Green’s 2025 mission report.
Whitten says by influencing purchasing decisions, organizations can improve the circularity of the textile economy. He also emphasized the importance of collaboration to improve sustainability.
“No single organization is going to solve the textile waste problem on its own. The greatest progress will come through partnerships, where nonprofits, businesses, governments, manufacturers and organizations each play a role,” Whitten said.
Infurna acknowledged the shortcomings of recycled polyester but said the club continues to find new ways to further its sustainability mission.
“We can make jerseys from coffee grounds or bamboo or all these other cool ideas. We always want to keep pushing that because merchandise is such a big part of our organization. We must do that sustainably, so finding new ways to do it is fun,” Infurna said.
He also emphasized the importance of fan and community involvement in adopting the Green’s sustainability mission, crediting their support for initiatives such as sustainable merchandise.
Soccer skills don’t come second to sustainability, Infurna noted. In 2025, the men’s team was crowned USL2 National Champions, and the club’s women’s team is currently advancing to the 2026 USLW National Championship in its inaugural season.
“Building your club with a sustainability identity or any mission identity does not have to be something that sacrifices the quality of the team,” Infurna said.