With Earth Day falling on Thursday this week, Japanese sportswear business Asics has unveiled its latest sustainable product collection – the Earth Day Pack.

The collection is its most planet-friendly to date, according to the brand, which said it repurposed around five tons of textile waste in the manufacturing of the set of shoes – the equivalent of about 25,000 t-shirts.

“Asics’ purpose has been to help people achieve a sound mind in a sound body – but for that they need a sound Earth to exercise on,” said Asics’ president and chief operating officer Yasuhito Hirota.

“That’s why we’re committed to playing our part in building a circular economy that helps reduce CO2 emissions and keep global warming at less than 1.5 degrees.”

According to Hirota, only 1 per cent of the world’s textile waste is upcycled, while over 70 per cent of apparel ends up in landfill or incinerated.

“By continuing to innovate the manufacturing process across all our product categories, we can help build a circular economy and mitigate the impact of climate change,” Hirota said.

The percentage of recycled materials differs piece to piece in the collection, with running shoes’ upper polyester using at least 30 per cent; sports style seeing at least 40 per cent of its upper materials; and tennis shoes at least 40 per cent of the base mesh made from recycled fabrics.