Ultimately, the disposal of shoes has a large impact on the environment much like the manufacturing as harmful chemicals start to leak into and contaminate the soil and water. This can lead to many health defects including cancer. It becomes very important to make efforts to reduce the impact of their shoes on the environment by creating eco-friendly shoes.
Adidas is no stranger to sustainability innovations. It is doubling down on efforts to reduce waste in its shoe-making business. A few years before, in 2015, the company teamed up with Parley for the Oceans and introduced the first performance footwear concept with an upper made entirely of yarns and filaments reclaimed and recycled from marine plastic waste and illegal deep-sea gillnets.
The company developed footwear that it claimed is the first-ever performance footwear “that’s made to be remade.” In other words, it’s 100% recyclable.
And, now the brand launched the first iteration of a running shoe called Futurecraft.Loop at a lavish event in New York City.
How it is made?
Recycling shoes and most things are difficult, mostly because the various materials of an item need to be separated first before recycling. Adidas solved this problem- they find out a way to make the shoe with a single material- 100 percent reusable TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane).
In addition, it is constructed without the use of adhesives or other chemicals. The entire sneaker is made with reusable TPU, including the tongue, laces, upper, and midsole with Boost cushioning technology.
Futurecraft.Loop is a shoe that is essentially a solid piece of plastic without using glue, yet at the same time does it without compromising on performance. After all, the Futurecraft Loop is designed to be a running sneaker.
What happens to your shoes after you’ve worn them out?
Once the user is done with the shoes, they are returned to Adidas. There they are washed, ground to pellets, and melted into material for components for a new pair of shoes, with zero waste and nothing thrown away.
The company also claims it tested the Loop with people who ran up to 400 kilometers, and the pair live up to the expectation.
“Taking plastic waste out of the system is the first step, but we can’t stop there,” said Eric Liedtke, Executive Board Member at Adidas, responsible for Global Brands. “The next step is to end the concept of ‘waste’ entirely. Our dream is that you can keep wearing the same shoes over and over again.“
The Futurecraft.Loop shoe will launch as part of a global beta program with 200 specially selected testers from around the world. The gathered feedback will be used to tweak the design of the shoe, which should hit stores in 2021.
