collective knowledge base and accelerating the development and implementation of effective solutions. The report showed that the current post-consumer footwear stream is dominated by non-rewearable prod- ucts. From the total of discarded textiles from separate collection, 9% by weight was footwear, while apparel and household textiles account for 90%. “Comparing the collection to production demonstrates that the footwear collection shows significant potential to be increased,” the report stated. sMaterial analysis conducted in the


project showed that many shoes contain recyclable thermoplastics, particularly in soles. “However, recycla- bility is currently systematically hin- dered by the complexity of footwear construction, which relies on a high volume of specialised components and permanent bonding techniques to ensure rigorous performance require- ments, such as structural durability, biomechanical support, and long-term wearer safety,” said the report.


Uppers and soles The recycling of uppers is primarily hindered by material blends and assembly. Over half of uppers (52%) consist of mixed textile compositions, which makes them poorly suited to both chemical and mechanical recycling. The high share (about 46%) of polyester-based blends in uppers, and 12% of pure polyester uppers, suggests that developing polyester recovery systems could have a signifi- cant impact. The high level of external disruptors (close to 90%) regularly found in the upper layer indicates that labour-intensive preprocessing would be required before recycling. In the preliminary research, the sole


presented the highest recycling opportunities. Thus, the analysis also focused largely on understanding the composition and characteristics of post-consumer shoe soles. The 37% “unknown” fraction in soles during sorting highlights the challenge posed by carbon black pigments which cannot be detected by near-infrared technology. However, this unknown category is not only attributed to the


28 Textiles Loop • Autumn 2026


FENC has developed a shoe it says is more easily recycled. Image: FENC


Moving from multi to mono


Most shoes are multi-material in their construction, making them difficult to recycle back into a reusable single stream. The latest attempt to develop a mono-material shoe comes from Far Eastern New Century (FENC) in Taiwan. The FENC recyclable polyester shoe incorporates recycled content across every component – from the shoe upper and foamed midsole to the seam tapes – which are all manufactured from 100% polyester materials. The company said: “The series of innovative materials effectively resolves the end-of-life recycling challenges of traditional footwear, demonstrating a groundbreaking advancement in mono-material closed-loop recycling for whole-shoe applications.” In addition, to overcome the recycling barriers of conventional blended functional fabrics, FENC has developed the r-TPEE (Recycled Thermoplastic Polyester Elastomer) elastic filament, vertical nonwoven staple fibre, and chemical foam. It said: “These innovations not only deliver outstanding elasticity and


resilience to effectively replace non-polyester elastic fibres and foams, but can also be chemically recycled alongside conventional polyester, laying the cornerstone for full textile circularity.” •www.feg.com.tw


sole colour but also to the blended polymers present in the soles.


Diverse materials The report said: “Footwear is funda- mentally challenging the apparel-style recycling playbook, as footwear is an order of magnitude more complex than apparel. While apparel sees 93% of the non-rewearable fraction being mono- layered with 42% cotton and 32% blends, footwear sees 52% blended uppers as well as various key materials in the sole, including primarily SBS, EVA, and rubber. Even ‘simple’ shoes combine multiple polymers, foams, textiles, rubbers, and adhesives.”


The report executive summary said:


“The key path forward involves strengthening circular design practices, promoting the rewear potential, improving sorting and preprocessing capacity and technology, and establish- ing robust data systems. This report establishes that transforming non- rewearable shoes from a complex waste challenge into a valuable material resource is challenging, but possible through collaborative inter- vention. By grounding future policy and innovation in real-world product evidence, the footwear sector can take decisive steps toward closing the loop.” • www.fashionforgood.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34