SCARPA launches LIFE Re-Shoes for shoe recycling
Environmental sustainability is becoming an increasingly important issue for businesses and consumers. This is why SCARPA has launched the LIFE Re-Shoes project, an initiative that aims to provide an alternative, circular and sustainable solution for the “end-of-life” management of shoes.
The first phase of the project has just begun: about 50 outlets of the SCARPA distribution network in Lombardy, Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige will become“Re-shops” and serve as collection points for used shoes of the Mojito model, an iconic product of the Asolo-based brand in the urban outdoor segment. The goal of the campaign is to collect 15 thousand pairs of shoes by the end of the year, which will enter a virtuous recycling system and lead to the production of as many pairs, with a range of 50 to 70 percent recycled material use in the new model.
The Re-Shoes project, which receives funding from the European Union, envisions by 2026 the production and marketing of a new SCARPA-branded model made through a procedure to derive secondary raw materials from used footwear and production waste to create a new generation of high-quality recycled products, thereby decreasing the disposal and use of virgin raw materials and aiming to zero post-processing waste.
The LIFE Re-Shoes project implements a completely new paradigm for the recovery of leather footwear in order to reduce its overall production impact. The process will be based on selectively dissolving the leather by hydrolysis, and the resulting liquid will then be used to tan new leather without the addition of chemicals. The remaining part of the shoe will be reused by separating the textile limbs from the sole, which will be milled and recycled into the soles that will make up the new model (with up to 50 percent recycled content in the midsole), while the laces and lining and reinforcement fabrics may become the new insoles.
“After several months of preparation and study of the smallest details, we are finally ready to start in concrete –
emphasizes SCARPA President Sandro Parisotto.
. Our idea is particularly ambitious: to develop a new sustainable business model, in which end-of-life footwear becomes the source from which to derive new materials to be used directly in the production of new shoes, instead of being used to make lower-quality products or used in sectors other than the original one. We know that the road is long, but it is a challenge that our company has decided to accept without delay, in the name of the values of sustainability, innovation, experimentation, and quality, which we have always carried forward.”
The LIFE Re-Shoes project is a concrete example of combining technological innovation with environmental sustainability. Ideally, other companies would follow SCARPA’s example, helping to reduce the environmental impact of consumer goods production and promote a circular and sustainable economy.
For more information, please visit
https://it.scarpa.com/life-re-shoes
