how brands, including Decathlon, are seeking to develop recyclable sneakers

The French brand is currently testing a full-scale shoe made from a single material, which does not generate waste. A process which should allow it to be recycled several times.

“Looking for testers wearing size 43”. This is the message that Decathlon is starting to spread. The brand needs volunteers to walk, run, and live typical days for several weeks, wearing shoes like no other, 100% recyclable, before returning them. Research began four years ago, with more than 600 sneaker prototypes made from all kinds of materials: silicone, sawdust, textiles, tires, even football blocks. But it didn’t work because the shoe wore out too quickly, too stiff and not grippy enough. And then one day, victory.

The ideal material has finally been found to obtain a sole that is both resistant and flexible, and above all infinitely recyclable. An advance made possible thanks to the plastic of the drinking pockets, a transparent blue material that marathon runners wear on their backs: it is TPU, thermoplastic polyurethane. It can be made into sneakers, soles and knitted uppers. Everything is assembled just by heating at high temperature.

A shoe made from a single material

This is what Decathlon wants to test in real life. The idea is to no longer generate waste at all, hence a shoe made of a single material, without glue, to be able to crush everything and remake a sneaker endlessly. It will perhaps be on sale next year for around 120 euros.

“We have a conviction: waste could be the gold of tomorrow, because waste today is little or not used at all in industry, whatever it may be, explains Anthony Lahutte, product manager at Decathlon, who has been part of the research team since the beginning. The idea is to ask yourself how to design a shoe with a very high level of waste. And then when the shoe is created, sold and used, how we recover it, and how we turn it into waste that can be used for our own footwear products or perhaps others.”

Only 2% of plastics recycled

Eco-designed sneakers have been around for years. Projects are multiplying among other brands: Nike promises a removable shoe, Adidas another 100% recyclable, a compostable sole at Puma and even vegan at Veja. The sneakers are also made from recycled bottles at the French company Ector, from wool or hemp at Ubac or even repairable at Sessile.

But the vast majority of sneakers are still made of more than 20 components, with at least ten different plastics. These shoes, of which 25 billion pairs are sold each year worldwide, are only recycled up to 2% of the plastics they contain. Research to avoid this pollution is largely justified, especially since the market is juicy: sales of sneakers will probably exceed 85 billion euros this year.