Salomon Sports lifted the curtain on the concept for a new running shoe that can be fully recycled into a ski boot shell. As the world’s largest ski boot manufacturer, the shoe provides a uniquely Salomon solution to footwear sustainability that extends the life-cycle of the materials used. It is made completely of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), which can be ground down at the end of its life and then combined with pre-consumer material to be used to construct an alpine ski boot shell.
Part of its developing Play Minded Program, the shoe is the first step in Salomon’s commitment to have 100 percent of its new products designed to one or several of the company’s circular economy principles by 2025. The Salomon Play Minded Program consists of four key focus areas: 1. Protecting the Playground (the places where outdoor lovers practice sports). 2. Producing more sustainable toys (the Salomon products used to practice those sports). 3. Educating the Players (the people who make up the communities of our outdoor sports). 4. Caring for the Playmakers (the people around the world who create Salomon products).
“We recognize that we have to do better for the environment by creating Salomon footwear that drastically reduces its impact on the planet,” states Guillaume Meyzenq, voce president of Salomon Footwear. “By creating this concept shoe that can be recycled into a ski boot shell, we are showing that it is possible to find alternative materials to create performance footwear. It’s an exciting development that will help lead us to more sustainable footwear solutions in the future.”
To reduce Salomon’s impact on the environment, the company has pledged to reduce its overall carbon emissions by 30 percent by the year 2030. Salomon will also eliminate perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) across all equipment categories by 2023. PFCs will be non-existent in Salomon footwear by the Fall ’20, in gear by 2022 and in winter sports equipment and apparel by 2023. By 2025, 70 percent of the waste created by Salomon’s operations will be recycled or re-used and the environmental performance of every Salomon product will be visible to the consumer. Also, by 2025, 100 percent of top-tier materials suppliers will have signed or otherwise demonstrated compliance with category-level Materials Compliance Programs and Restricted Substances Lists (RSLs).
