When environmental protection has become a hot topic in the fashion industry, low-carbon, sustainable, and circularity are being included in more strategic keywords for fashion companies. On July 26, American footwear brand Crocs, the originator of hole shoes, announced plans to become a zero-carbon company in 2030.

Calochi, a shoe brand that focuses on leisure and comfort, is compatible with environmental protection concepts such as naturalness, sustainability and recycling. It is not difficult to understand that it proposes a zero-carbon emission plan. According to the Crocs plan, in the future, the company will cover the zero-carbon emission decision to the entire production line, and take the creation of sustainable materials, packaging and the secondary use of resources as the core of its strategy.

Karrochi’s strategic decision almost covers the basic operations of current fashion companies in sustainable footwear. Nowadays, many luxury brands and sports brands are committed to sustainable fashion research, and their efforts in sustainable recycling of footwear mainly cover manufacturing processes, transformation of materials, and recycling.

Raw materials

Reducing pollution from the source, selecting natural materials, or developing revolutionary new environmentally friendly materials have become the focus of companies’ research on sustainable footwear. Nike once used factory-produced scraps and post-consumer waste as original materials to launch the Space Hippie series of sports shoes. Known as “the most comfortable shoes in the world,” Allbirds, in addition to the wool that made it famous, successfully developed two new materials as raw materials in 2018, namely the leaf fiber-based fabric “tree” and sugarcane The carbon-reduced EVA sole material “SweetFoamT M” extracted from it. The luxury brand Baodie uses biodegradable polymer materials, Prada uses recycled nylon, and Balenciaga uses recyclable environmentally friendly woven fabrics. Everyone has made various attempts in the selection of raw materials for shoes.

Manufacturing process

In the manufacturing process of shoes, a large number of adhesives and the assembly of various materials have created a large amount of pollution and increased the difficulty of recycling. In response to these difficulties, the industry has also contributed a lot of creativity. For example, South Korean design company KI has launched a modular footwear called ecobe, which consumers can assemble by themselves without using viscose in the process, which reduces the pollution in the production of traditional footwear to a certain extent.

Recycling

When none of the above steps work, recycling becomes the last step to reduce shoe waste and environmental protection. Nike’s “Nike Grind” program, in addition to large-scale recycling of shoes and waste materials sent to the sorting and processing department, also uses recycled materials in the program in 70% of new products. Swiss brand On has developed a product service based on a paid subscription model, encouraging users to return running shoes that have reached the end of their life to On in exchange for new products.

At present, the efforts of major companies in manufacturing processes, reforming materials, recycling and other aspects are promoting the continuous progress of sustainable footwear. According to the “New Youth Cultural Insights” released by CBNData, the growth rate of online consumption of sustainable footwear is far greater than that of the overall footwear market. Among them, the younger generation of consumers is the main force. There is no doubt that the participation of Crocs and other companies will create a more anticipated picture of the future of sustainable footwear.