Key findings from the Fast Feet Grinded Collaborative Pilot
Image by James Gallagher.
The fashion and textiles industry has increasingly turned its focus toward circularity, with many stakeholders investing in and working on textile-to-textile recycling. However, the challenge of footwear recycling remains persistent due to its more complex and nuanced process compared to textile recycling. According to estimates, 24 billion shoes are added to the market each year (1) , and a staggering 90% of shoes are either landfilled or incinerated (2). With the demand for raw materials expected to triple by 2050 (3), urgent action is needed to reduce the dependence on virgin resources (4).
Footwear is traditionally made using a vast array of different materials, resulting in design complexity that makes it difficult to recover materials in a technically and economically feasible manner. In addition, the lack of widespread footwear recycling solutions and infrastructure hinders the recovery of footwear products. Therefore, collaborative and innovative efforts are needed to enhance footwear circularity. It is imperative to fund the development of recycling technology and to create shared infrastructure to collect and prepare footwear for recycling processes.
To tackle this challenge, Fashion for Good launched a collaborative pilot with partners adidas, Inditex, Target and Zalando, in collaboration with innovator FastFeetGrinded, aiming to test and validate the footwear recycling process and support the uptake of recycled materials in footwear.
FAST FEET GRINDED COLLABORATIVE PILOT
Through this pilot, the partners, Target, Zalando, Inditex, and adidas diverted pre- and post-consumer footwear to FastFeetGrinded, who then processed the feedstock into various new material granulates. FastFeetGrinded and their extensive network of supply chain partners produced demonstrator output products, such as yarns, socks, sports floor samples, material sheets, and even a new footwear product. The brands closely evaluated each output’s quality and purity, aiming to showcase the potential of FastFeetGrinded’s footwear recycling technology and pave the way for scalable solutions.
FastFeetGrinded is a company specialising in deconstructing and recycling all types of pre- and post-consumer footwear into substituent components, which are then subsequently grinded down and processed to create material streams for repurposed use. With their experience in developing various use cases for recycled output, including back into new footwear, they have established relationships with recyclers and suppliers to maximise the value of their process’ outputs.
The goals of the pilot included:
- Specifying input and output products to enable necessary supply chain links for collection, sorting, recycling, and manufacturing.
- Testing FastFeetGrinded’s footwear recycling process and evaluating the quality and purity of the outputs produced across various material buckets.
- Validating and producing output products for demonstration using FastFeetGrinded’s network of supply chain partners.
- Conducting a screening LCA on FastFeetGrinded’s process to determine the environmental footprint, from a carbon, water and waste perspective, compared to a defined base case.
Key Findings
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Open-loop recycling (e.g. footwear feedstock into non-footwear outputs) is achievable using purely mechanical recycling, however, for closed-loop recycling (e.g. footwear feedstock into outputs that can be reintegrated into the footwear supply chain) further technology advancements are necessary to achieve higher purity outputs.
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Sequencing of multiple technologies along the footwear waste supply chain, from waste aggregation through recycling will help overcome some of the performance challenges. An example could be to leverage an automated sorting technology for footwear feedstock with delamination / preprocessing technologies and recycling technologies to ensure high-purity outputs.
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Impact assessments for footwear recycling are challenging due to limited base case data availability in the industry. As such, complexities arise with evaluating emerging recycling technologies through a comparative LCA.
CALL TO ACTION: NEXT STEPS
- Improve baseline impact data: There is limited data available for existing footwear material production. We need to collectively improve the quantity and quality of existing impact information, as well as for innovative materials and processes so we can make educated decisions on what the future should look like in this space.
- Sequencing of innovations to yield high-quality outputs: Combining chemical and mechanical methods of preprocessing and recycling footwear can lead to higher purity outputs than those created from purely mechanical recycling processes. With improved quality of outputs, the potential for footwear supply chain reentry increases.
- Collaborative action to finding solutions: Sustainable innovation in footwear is fairly nascent compared to apparel and there is a lot of work to be done. We have an opportunity to leverage our learnings from the apparel space to build an ecosystem that takes into account the interdependencies and nuances at each stage of the production process. Collaborative action is the key to unlocking this approach which is why Fashion for Good is working closely with all stakeholders on this topic. Watch this space as we head into 2025!
KEY STATS
Brand Stakeholders: Target, adidas, Inditex, Zalando
Project Length & Geography: Europe and US
Duration: The project ran from Q1 2023 through Q3 2024.
Innovators: Fast Feet Grinded
Press Release: click here
CONTACT
Contact: innovations@fashionforgood.com
(1) World Footwear Yearbook (2020). Available here.
(2) Vivobarefoot (2020). Available here.
(3) WRAP (2019). Valuing our Clothes. Available here.
(4) Material Innovation Initiative (2021). 2021 State of the Industry Report: Next-Gen Materials. Available here.
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