PPE & PROTECTIVE WORKWEAR STEP UP
Oli Willson from GORE-TEX Professional Footwear explains how best practice in sustainability is assessed and implemented at Gore.
Sustainability has really made great progress across the global workwear sector in recent years. Throughout the entire supply chain companies have increasingly become more environmentally astute and are starting to adopt stewardship programmes. All key players from component or ingredient brands through to manufacturers and distributors are working hard to ensure that exacting standards are met, tested and extended.
We can all play our part in protecting our planet and people by reducing our environmental footprint and the single most effective way to do this is to produce or procure better, more durable products which last longer. This saves resources and money and there are simple ways to work towards achieving this.
INNOVATION AND DESIGN Trends in the design and construction of safety footwear are ever evolving, through innovations in materials and processes. Responsible companies, such as Gore, have been on a sustainability journey for decades and science- based innovation to produce ever more sustainable products is picking up a pace. This requires, however, that any claims made by any manufacturer regarding sustainability are fully backed up with science-based evidence. With the UK government’s green claims code this asks businesses to prove their claims with robust, credible, and up-to-date evidence. Proper, secure codes such as this and other accreditations ensures that environmental stewardship can be fully monitored.
BECOME FAMILIAR WITH LABELS I would advise the reader to become familiar with following labels when considering PPE footwear procurement for a workforce so that purchase becomes part of the solution and not part of the problem. Simply put, they look at the manufacturing processes, chemistries used and the emissions from these processes and check that responsible manufacturing is taking place.
● STANDARD 100 BY Oeko-Tex® ● OEKO-TEX® ● bluesign®
STeP3 4
● ISO140015 ● Higg MSI Index6 ● Life Cycle Assessment7
Today, responsible footwear manufacturers focus especially on Life Cycle Assessment and Higg indicators when designing and creating new products. Using an integrated approach ensures that environmental issues are accorded just as much value as the well-known qualities of comfort, safety, durability and wearability.
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INNOVATION FOR SUSTAINABILITY Gore considered end user demand for sustainable yet robust, waterproof, and protective four-season footwear, which is permanently lightweight and comfortable to wear, and responded with new EXTRAGUARD upper technology. This combines all the advantages of leather with those of textile upper materials. During its production, water usage is significantly reduced due to the different processes used, compared to those employed during traditional leather footwear manufacture. This is based on Higg MSI calculations using industry average data.
It consists of three layers which provide the end user with benefits of being highly abrasion-resistant, robust, protects the foot from impact or shock and prevents moisture from penetrating the upper from the outside via the seams. The upper material is 40% lighter than leather when dry and remains permanently light even in wet conditions. In addition, it absorbs hardly any moisture from the outside even after prolonged use or if the water-repellent impregnation is lost, and so there are no significant changes to its weight.
www.goretexprofessional.com/uk/technologies/extraguard-upper/goretex-safety-footwear
www.goretexprofessional.com
www.tomorrowshs.com
Since EXTRAGUARD upper technology was launched to trade in October 2021 the response from Gore’s footwear manufacturing brand partners has been very positive. Commercial styles of GORE-TEX safety footwear with the new EXTRAGUARD upper technology are now available from 11 of Gore’s footwear partners: ATLAS, ELTEN, Fal, Haix, Obuv, Robusta, Solid Gear, Steitz Secura, TS Corporation, Unikhan and Upower.
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