Saving the environment — one shoe at a time

Sportswear giant adidas is doing its bit to save the environment — one pair of shoes at a time.

The company recently revealed its 100 per cent recyclable performance shoe; Futurecraft.Loop.

Marketing states it is a “performance shoe made to be remade” and among numerous initiatives adidas is working on to tackle the issue of plastic waste.

This is just the beginning. Each component in the shoes is 100 per cent reusable. Owners are urged to return them to adidas at the end of their use, where they will be washed, ground to pellets and melted into material for a new pair of shoes.

“The ultimate goal is you won’t need to use more and more material,” says Armstrong.

“You will use the material once, we bring it back, grind it down and repurpose it for the next piece.

“That is when you truly change the game.

“It will completely overhaul the way the supply chain has traditionally been done.”

The shoe was developed by adidas after almost 10 years of research with its material development, manufacturing and recycling partners across Asia, Europe and North America.

That R&D process included how to manufacture shoes without relying on previous complex material mixes and gluing.

The shoe was last month named one of Time magazine’s best inventions of 2019.

And American cable sports channel ESPN earlier this year presented adidas with its first Sports Sustainability Leadership award for its work aimed at protecting and improving the environment.

A lot of that is centred on reducing marine plastic waste.

This year the company will produce 11 million pairs of shoes containing recycled ocean plastic which has been removed from beaches, remote islands and coastal communities.

“There are more micro-plastics and plastics going into the ocean than there are fish in the ocean,” Armstrong says.

“If we don’t fix it, the world environment is in a dangerous situation.”