All CSR & Sustainability articles – Page 10
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ArticleOrthoLite launches a recyclable, compostable midsole foam
OrthoLite has launched Cirql, which it claims to be the first-ever ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) plastics free, recyclable and compostable midsole foam “with an end of life solution” that can be applied for athletic, casual, fashion, work and children footwear. The U.S. producer of insoles, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary ...
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News briefs
Designer Brands invests $2 m in black-owned factory
Designer Brands, the parent of the shoe retailer DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse, is investing $2 million in the first Black-owned footwear factory in the United States – JEMS by Pensole – to produce shoes designed by graduate students of the Pensole Lewis College of Business & Design (PLC). The shoes ...
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ArticleAllbirds launches a resale platform
Allbirds, the B Corporation certified Californian brand of footwear and apparel, has launched the resale platform Allbirds ReRun in partnership with Trove, which specializes in branded recommerce. ReRun will initially offer customers at three stores the option of trading in their Allbirds shoes for $20 in store credit. Following the ...
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News briefs
A new plant-based textile fiber from Finland
Nordic Bioproducts Group, a Finnish start-up and a spin-off from Aalto University, has developed a new plant-based textile fiber called Norratex, made without any toxic chemicals or expensive solvents. In Nordic Bioproducts’ patented AaltoCell technology, the cellulose is first hydrolyzed in an environmentally friendly manner; then, it is further processed ...
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News briefsU.S. fiber company Circular Systems joins C.L.A.S.S. material hub
California-based company Circular Systems is a new C.L.A.S.S. material hub partner, promoting its circular, regenerative solutions for transforming waste into net positive fibers, yarns and fabrics through the platform based in Milan, Italy. In its own words, C.L.A.S.S. identifies fibers, yarns, fabrics that embody creativity, innovation and sustainability at the ...
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News briefs
Vulcabras gets top ratings for sustainability
Vulcabras has been certified by three Brazilian industry bodies, as a most sustainable shoe manufacturer in the country. The Brazilian parent of Olympikus, which manufactures 25 million pairs of shoes a year at its own factories in the country, It is the first one in the sector to be using ...
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News briefsEastman to invest $1bn in a plastic recycling facility in France
French President Emmanuel Macron and Mark Costa, Eastman Chemical Company’s board chairman and CEO, jointly announced on Jan. 17 that the U.S.-based specialty materials company plans to invest up to $1 billion in a material-to-material molecular recycling facility in France. The facility would use Eastman’s polyester renewal technology to recycle ...
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ArticleThe Aura blockchain launches a SaaS solution for luxury brands
On Jan. 13, the Aura Blockchain Consortium launched Aura SaaS, a cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution for its global blockchain-based platform designed for luxury brands. The consortium is a non-profit association based in Switzerland promoting socially responsible, sustainable and customer-centric business practices throughout the lifecycle of luxury products by leveraging blockchain ...
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News briefs
Coats launches Lattice Lite Eco for footwear
Coats is launching Lattice Lite Eco, a fiber-laying technology using sustainable materials to create footwear composite materials. The British industrial thread manufacturer described the technology as “revolutionary” as it enables yarns to be precisely positioned in the required place and direction. ”This means the thickness, flexibility, torsion and rigidity of ...
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Piquadro starts footwear collaboration with ACBC
The Italian leather goods company Piquadro presented its first collection of unisex sneakers called Corner20 at the Pitti Immagine Uomo trade show held in Florence from Jan. 11 to 14. The shoes were produced in collaboration with ACBC and are matched with a selection of backpacks. ACBC is an Italian ...
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ArticleTexon launches a more sustainable version of the Reform heel-counter
Texon has launched a new version of its Reform heel-counter which it claims contains up to 66 percent of sustainably sourced content while “offering the same physical traits as its predecessor.” The new Texon Reform 2.0 contains more recycled content from post-consumer waste, such as ocean-bound plastic bottles, according to ...
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News briefs
Shoe Carnival pledges $100,000 to tornado victims
Shoe Carnival pledged to donate $100,000 to the American Red Cross. The donation will benefit relief efforts for those affected by the tornadoes that devastated portions of the South and Midwest of the U.S. from late Dec. 10 to early Dec. 11. Shoe Carnival stores in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, ...
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Higg appoints a chief strategy officer to lead the platform’s expansion
Higg, the environmental software platform responsible for the Higg Index, has appointed James Schaffer as chief strategy officer to lead business development and partnerships. Schaffer’s experience in developing industry initiatives in the apparel sector, where Higg’s platform is widely used, is expected to be instrumental in guiding the company’s expansion ...
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Dutch consortium develops shoelaces from old denims
Four companies from the Dutch province of Limburg have jointly developed shoelaces from recycled jeans. The companies are DenimX, which upcycles denim waste, Eurocarbon, which makes woven reinforcements, the paper company Paperwise and Emma Safety Footwear, which will be the first to use the laces. Hultafors, the Swedish group that ...
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News briefs
Responsible Packaging Movement reaches 100 signatories
The Responsible Packaging Movement, launched last year by Columbia Sportswear’s prAna brand, has reached 100 signatories thanks to the addition of the footwear brands Sorel and Hoka. On its website, prAna explained that its goal is to completely eliminate plastic from its consumer packaging by 2021, as well as eliminate ...
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ArticleCompanies must be sincere in promoting sustainability or risk a backlash
With consumers demanding more sustainable and equitable products and being increasingly aware of corporate greenwashing, footwear brands must be authentic in marketing sustainable goods. Otherwise their communication strategy may backfire, trend forecasting company WGSN warned during a couple of webinars organized by the Italian trade fair Expo Riva Schuh. Greenwashing ...
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ArticleCCC Group plans to triple sales by 2025
The Polish footwear and apparel retailer CCC Group plans to triple revenues to over 20 billion zloty (€4.2bn-$4.8bn) in 2025 largely thanks to the development of its online business and of its newly launched off-price banner HalfPrice, as well as an increased presence in apparel and accessories. The share of ...
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News briefs
Erem launches a new hiking boot
Erem, a Nevada-based company founded in 2021, has unveiled a new hiking boot that is ”high on performance and low on environmental impact.” The collection launches with the men’s and women’s Xerocole and Xerocole Expedition boots, named after animals that thrive in desert environments. The uppers of the Xerocole collection ...
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News briefs
OrthoLite launches new sustainable insole technologies
The U.S. brand OrthoLite is introducing two new sole technologies that elevate the total eco content of the insoles to 57 percent and 50 percent, respectively. The new soles, called HybridPlus-Bio and HybridPlus-Recycled, have been developed in the framework of Ortholite’s zero-waste initiative. While the “recycled” soles are made with ...
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ArticleEU proposes new rules to fight deforestation, promote circular economy
The European Commission has adopted three new initiatives proposing rules to curb deforestation, to facilitate intra-EU waste shipments to promote circular economy and tackle the export of waste to third countries. From 1990 to 2020 the world has lost 420 million hectares of forest, an area larger than the European ...
