Global sports brand Adidas has appointed Katja Schreiber as senior vice president (SVP) for sustainability.
Following three years as Adidas’s vice president of human resources (HR) in emerging markets, Katja Schreiber began the new role this week, taking responsibility for steering the company’s sustainability strategy.
Schreiber reports to Martin Shankland, executive board member responsible for global operations. She has succeeded Frank Henke, who will now focus on sustainability-related lobbying and stakeholder management moving forward.
Katja Schreiber has been with Adidas since 2005. Before moving to Dubai to head up HR for emerging markets, she held roles in communications and marketing for the company in Herzogenaurach, Beijing and Portland.
The new SVP is one of several changes within the sustainability team at Adidas, with Alexis Haas stepping down from her role driving sustainability strategy in Adidas’s brands, where she oversaw green product creation and innovation as part of Marwin Hoffmann’s team.
After 13 years at Adidas, Haas has taken on the chief sustainability officer role at Arcadis, a global design and consultancy organisation for natural and built assets.
Last week, Adidas announced its new ‘Own the Game’ strategy, focusing on strengthening the credibility of the company’s brand, creating a unique consumer experience, and continuing to expand the business’s activities in sustainability.
Adidas promised to “significantly expand its commitment to sustainability and move to a comprehensive consumer-facing programme with a sustainable offering at scale”.
It said that six out of ten Adidas articles are made from ‘sustainable’ materials, but by 2025, that will rise to nine out of ten, as the company expands use of products that are made from recycled materials, made to be remade, or created with natural and renewable resources.
“Adidas has been researching fully recyclable or biodegradable materials for some time already and aims to only use recycled polyester in every product from 2024 onward,” the company announced.
“In addition, the communication and marketing for products made from sustainable materials will be intensified, while product takeback programmes will be rolled out at a large scale.”
Read more about those tasked with driving retailer sustainability on Green Retail World
[Image credit: Adidas]
