this is what it looks like when a shoe
gets recycled turning this into that but
this doesn't usually happen shoes and
clothing have a limited life cycle by
design which usually means they end up
in landfills in 2017 the u.s. produced
over 12 million tons of clothing and
footwear waste only about 13.5 percent
of that was recycled products was short
life spans harmed the environment during
manufacturing and produce tons of waste
but we're starting to see a global push
to develop more sustainable
manufacturing one company trying to
develop new innovations to fix this old
problem is Solomon it makes millions of
shoes every year normally shoes are made
of many different materials like rubber
leather and plastic which makes them
difficult to recycle Solomon has
developed a process that it hopes will
help solve this problem turning a used
shoe into a new ski boot show the key to
Solomon's new shoe is that it's made
entirely out of one material TPU or
thermoplastic polyurethane TPU is a type
of plastic that is light but durable and
it can be reshaped when heated which
means it's well suited for manufacturing
but how does a shoe turn into a ski boot
here's how it works
first Solomon creates a running shoe
made entirely out of TPU it says this
new shoe won't compromise quality or
durability instead of throwing it away
customers return the shoes to Solomon
which will then clean the shoe and grind
it down into small particles like these
this used to be a shoe
Solomon then combines the recycled TPU
with new TPU and creates a ski boot
shell it's kind of like a sand castle a
bunch of little particles that can be
combined to form something new Solomon
says it will use twenty to fifty percent
recycled TPU in each ski boot eventually
Solomon
hopes to collect and recycle the ski
boots shell as well the Salomon isn't
the only company creating sustainable
Footwear adidas is future craft loupe is
the company's first a hundred percent
recyclable shoe it also uses CPU adidas
wants customers to return their use
shoes so it can recycle them into a
brand new pair both companies expect
these products to be available in 2021
of course you don't have to wait a year
to start recycling your shoes donating
lightly you shoes can benefit someone in
need and reduce waste and Salomon isn't
stopping with this one shoe the
companies play minor program is designed
to do three things
protect the outdoors create more
sustainable products and educate its
customers on responsible ways to enjoy
the outdoors salomon wants 70% of its
waste to be recycled or reused by 2025
and the company has pledged to stop
using perfora native chemicals by 2023
PFCs are used in durable water repellent
finishes which are common in outdoor
clothing but they can be harmful to both
humans and animals all these changes
bring us a little closer to a more
sustainable future