Nowadays, the world has reached a consensus on the importance of environmental protection and sustainable development. Especially in the footwear production industry, companies are focusing on the recyclable and recyclable green development of materials. By improving the sustainability of products, Recyclability and reduced material waste, ultimately achieving greater sustainability.
However, in shoe materials, the properties and structures of different materials in different structures often increase the difficulty of secondary use. Therefore, many companies have begun to develop single-material sports shoes, such as 100% use of TPU is made into a pair of shoes. Lubrizol and Wanhua have previously launched such solutions.
Lubrizol’s portfolio of advanced TPU solutions for footwear, including: Esdex™ TPU (used in upper stitching to keep footwear structures lightweight); BounCell-X™ thermoplastic polyurethane (for low-density, plasticizer-free, recyclable foam for cushioning); and ESTANE® TRX thermoplastic polyurethane (as a functional alternative to rubber outsoles).
Wanhua Chemical and Peak team up to 3D print 100% recyclable TPU shoes. The prototype shoe is called “The Next” and is completely 3D printed with TPU, making it both customizable and recyclable. 100% recycled. “The Next” combines a full range of high-quality, highly flexible WANFAB® TPU wire, WANFAB® TPU powder, WANFAB® environmentally friendly coating and Adwel® water-based adhesive emulsion to achieve 100% recyclability. “Zero harm” to the environment.
In addition to TPU, the application proportion of nylon elastomers in shoe materials is also increasing day by day, and complete shoe solutions for 100% nylon elastomer sports shoes have begun to appear.
Recently, Arkema launched 100% recyclable high-performance running shoes – Cloudneo, which was developed and designed by the Pebax Powered® technical team in close cooperation with the Swiss sportswear manufacturer ON An innovative recyclable running shoe, it is also the world’s first shoe made of 100% high-performance polyamide material, which can be fully recycled and reused.
To create a high-performance running shoe that is 100% recyclable in one piece is the purpose of the development and production of Cloudneo. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure the consistency of the sole and upper materials. In addition, as a shoe specially designed for athletes, it is also required to be lightweight and flexible.
So Arkema used Pebax® polymer technology to integrate into the shoes, combined with ON’s Speedboard® system to create an ultra-sensitive polyamide sole solution, using cloud technology with Pebax® thermoplastic The foam sole made of elastomer not only ensures the comfort of athletes’ soft landing, but also converts soft landing into high rebound to provide power.
As for the upper of the Cloudneo innovative structure, it is equipped with Rilsan® polyamide 11, which is 100% bio-based. Whether it is Pebax® Polymer or Rilsan® Polyamide 11, both materials are castor bean-based polymers, a lightweight, highly resilient material suitable for a variety of applications to allow for better footwear performance after use. Co-recycling of polyester and nylon-based materials.
Keywords:
Environmentally friendly and sustainable bio-based sneakers
AAAFNJKIYO9P
