Adidas announces first entirely recyclable shoe

Just in time for Earth Day, which is April 20, Adidas is making moves to reduce its plastic waste.

On Wednesday, April 17, Adidas announced the early stages of its latest style, Futurecraft.Loop, the German activewear brand’s first-ever completely recyclable running shoe. In addition, this new style will be part of a project featuring a closed loop manufacturing model. The Futurecraft.Loop can be returned to Adidas, broken down into fibers and once again used to develop new sneakers.

Adidas first began its mission towards sustainable products in 2015 in partnership with Parley, when it developed sneakers that featured upper materials made entirely with yarns and other fibers reclaimed and recycled from plastic found in oceans as well as deep-sea gillnets, according to a press release.

“What happens to your shoes after you’ve worn them out? You throw them away — except there is no away,” said Executive Board Member Eric Liedtke, “The next step is to end the concept of ‘waste’ entirely. Our dream is that you can keep wearing the same shoes over and over again.”

Once worn down, consumers can return the sneakers to Adidas, who will then wash the shoes before grinding them into pellets. Then, they will be melted into materials to use towards new shoes, without leaving any waste.

The Futurecraft.Loop is currently part of a global beta program with 200 people involved for testing around the world. These people will run, return the shoes and report back their experiences on the program. Insights from the beta program will be used towards a wider release of the shoe expected for Spring/Summer 2021.