PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The biggest environmental challenge for the footwear industry is the large amount of waste generated at the end-of-life phase, with most shoes being disposed of in landfills. In recent years, the fast fashion trend has further worsened the situation. Less than 5% of 24 billion pairs of shoes produced each year are recycled or reused, with the rest going to landfill or remaining unworn in wardrobes for years (World Footwear, 2019). The footwear sector has been slow to respond to this challenge, with only one major shoe manufacturer taking measures to manage its waste and then only to a very limited extent.
Walking, running and hiking shoes have a relatively short lifespan. Although some producers have attempted to recover used sports shoes, the high cost of disassembling and material separation of multiple components is viewed as prohibitive, while sorting and recycling methods for multi-materials (leather and plastics) and poly-laminates are lacking. An additional environmental problem stems from the management of pre-consumer scraps (mostly leather and rubber) which are generated during the cutting process. These scraps can represent up to 40% of the production material and are disposed of almost completely.
OBJECTIVES
The project LIFE RE-SHOES aims to demonstrate an alternative, circular and sustainable solution for footwear end-of-life management. Its solution involved the collection and sorting of used shoes to obtain secondary raw materials for use in the production of high-quality recycled shoes. The project plans to create a pilot production process to show the viability of its approach.
Specifically, the project aims to:
- Demonstrate the effectiveness of a used shoe campaign, covering at least 30 micro-collection areas in Italy, Austria and Germany;
- Produce high-quality secondary raw materials using resources obtained from the sorting of post-consumer footwear, which can be used again in the production of new models; and
- Design, manufacture and certify an eco-sustainable footwear model, suitable for everyday use and for special activities, made mostly from recycled secondary raw materials derived from recovered shoes.
RESULTS
Expected results:
- Pilot production process using secondary raw materials coming from collected worn-out shoes and production scraps;
- A new generation of eco-friendly shoes (15 000 by project end) made with recycled materials (up to 50% of total weight);
- Reduction of GHG emissions by 52.4% compared to the emissions associated with the production of a standard footwear;
- Elimination of the use of chrome in the production of the new leathers for shoes production, and a 50% reduction in the use of other compounds normally used in the tanning process;
- Reduction by 65% of the use of water resources compared to standard tanning processes; and
- Reduction by 54.5% in energy consumption in the production of the new models compared to standard footwear.
