Principal Andrew Hunter said the school adopted the new shirts for its sports uniform because it fitted well with its ethos of sustainability.
Mr Hunter said the pupils were keen recyclers, they composted biodegradable waste and the school had recently converted its heating boiler to burn wood pellets instead of coal.
"You can teach kids about sustainability in the classroom and it's abstract to them. But when they can put something on that's been recycled . . . It's a real life example of recycling at work."
"It fits well with what we do here."
The shirts were popular with the pupils because they felt and looked good, he said.
"That's the total proof of quality - they last and the parents are happy with the product they've got.
"Not only is the product good, the message it sends to the kids is good too."
The shirts are manufactured in Hong Kong by Tsunami Sportswear from recycled New Zealand plastic bottles, and distributed in New Zealand by JW Sport in Christchurch.
JW Sport managing director and former Otago Highlander Brendan Laney said Balmacewen Intermediate was the first school in Otago and Southland to use the shirts as a uniform and one of only three schools in the South Island to do so.
The company also produced cricket, rugby, netball and hockey uniforms, all custom made to schools' preferences, and hoped the initiative would "take off" in schools.
