By POLITECNICO CALZATURIERO SCPA
october 2024
The journey of the European Footwear Industry towards sustainability has already begun.
The request for more sustainable, eco-firendly and transparent products is coming from different sources: starting with the upcoming policies drafted by the EU - which will become increasingly stringent and deman-ding - and arriving to the consumers. Ideed, consumers’ awareness of the environmental impact of footwear production is leading them towards a growing interest on how the footwear product is built, with which materials and how much energy it requires.
The footwear production process is a very complex one, compelling many different phases, as well as mate-rials and accessories. There are several critical aspects involved: starting from the beginning, the treatment of the leather used for the uppers requires large quantities of waters and chemicals. Another example is the assembly phase, where there is a huge use of primers, adhesives, solvents (also for cleaning machines and equipments), rubber (for shoes with soles assembled by injection or vulcanisation), but also large consump-tion of electricity and heat for the operation of operating machines.
Another factor to consider, is that, with the advent of globalization, footwear manufacturers faced two key challenges for competing in the global marketplace: first, the need to adapt quickly to the market changes and, second, the necessity to stay updated and relevant to establish new consumer trends. The result was the affirmation of footwear mass production, which became the most important instrument to make billions of consumers satisfied and to remain updated with the ever-changing fashion trends.
The combination between mass production and the intrinsic characteristics of the traditional footwear production process led the apparel and footwear industries together to generate between 5 and 10% of global pollution in 2016. In the same period, footwear alone represented approximately 1.4% of global climate im-pacts (accounting for 700 million metric tons CO2eq).
This is the complicated framework in which the European Footwear Industry operates. Consequently, in order to maintain productivity (thus meeting the requests coming from the consumers and from the market) and comply with standards and legislation imposed by the EU, footwear companies need to adopt multiple strategies.
A first solution that can be mentioned, is the adoption of circular design principles in footwear business models. Manufacturing companies can include circularity in the business model in different ways: a) introdu-cing the possiblity to rent products instead of selling them, so that product can return to the producer inste-ad of become waste; b) extending products’ life increasing their durability; c) designing products to maximise recoverbailty of the materials and of the components. To summarize, circular design applies methods for developing products with higher functionality, while reducing their negative impact on the environment. An example is the SALOMON – INDEX.02, a running shoe which is the evolution of Index.01 launched in 2021, it is 100% recyclable. In this product, a thin line shows where it will be sorted for recycling. On the tongue of the shoe, a practical QR code to be scanned allows the shoe to be registered after purchase and facilitates its return for recycling at the end of its use. As with INDEX.01, when INDEX.02 shoes are returned for recycling, the materials are used in the construction of Salomon ski boots.
However, boosting sustainability also means reshape the production processes by using modern machines that consumer less energy, but also extending the sustainability concept to workers’ treatment. Indeed, in order to be really sustainable, factories need to ensure fair compensations and treatment to workers, as well as a protected and healthy working environment alongside all the supply chain.
A final crucial aspect, which is also gaining attention among footwear manufactures is the choice of materials. Historically, the footwear sector has always used materials which are not environmentally friendly, such as plastic, chemically treated leather, synthetic rubbers, etc. contributing to increase pollution and damaging the environment. For these reasons, the latest requirements for boosting eco-friendly practices in footwear has also affected the choice of materials, forcing manufacturers to explore new and more ecological ones. For simplicity we can mention two big groups of new materials: recycled materials and natural materials.
Recycled materials come from waste, aiming at giving it a new life and lowering the planet’s burden. In 2015, Adidas launched its partnership with Parley for the Oceans designing a footwear product made in part with Parley Ocean Plastic: the upper was made with a yarn containing at least 50% of ocean plastic and 50% by recycled polyester. In 2017, the shoe production made with Parley Ocean Plastic reached one million pair, and the company launched the Adidas x Parley Run for the Oceans, a global movement with the scope of raising awareness for the state of the oceans. Through the years the production grew, and by the end of 2020, Adidas created more than 30 million pairs. Currently, the company’s goals is to reduce the carbon footprint by, on average, 15% per product compared to 2017.
The other great category of materials comprises natural materials, for example deriving from organic cotton, bamboo or cork. A good example in this field is the company Womsh, which decided to adopt Appleskin (created by Frumat Leather) a vegan leather from discarded apples. Subsequently, the company introduced an evolution of Appleskin, which is Uppeal: an innovative material that offers the same texture, softness and impermeability as leather, but is 100% ecological and vegan. Not only because it does not use animal by-products, but also because it is made using waste from apple processing, from cores to fibres from the pe-els, recovered after the Trentino organic apple chain.
To conclude, the introduction of sustainable practices and processes in the Footwear Industry, is not to be considered merely a trend, but a real evolution in order to face climate change. Merging eco-friendly princi-ples and technologies is becoming pivotal for the companies, being the most important instrument for maining their relevance in the international economic landscape, as well as for boosting their resilience in this ever-changing world.