When Adidas presented a new model of running shoes made out of ocean plastic last year, it felt more like a marketing gimmick rather than an actual attempt at addressing the problem of waste in the fashion industry. This time around, Adidas has introduced a new sneaker that could actually revolutionize footwear and reduce tons of waste. Named the Futurecraft. Loop, it’s a performance running shoe that can be 100 percent ground up and melted back into raw materials for a brand-new shoe—without any waste. The current issue with trying to recycle running shoes is that they are made of more than a dozen different components that can’t easily be taken apart, broken down, and reused. Adidas’s innovation was to make its shoe entirely from one variety of plastic. The knit upper, the spongy midsole, the durable outsole, and even the laces are all plastic. The whole shoe can be washed, ground into pellets, and melted back into raw material. Sure, you might cringe at the idea of a shoe being made entirely out of plastic, but the reality is that it’s comparatively easy to recycle when compared to other materials. It’s a shoe that was “made to be remade,” and it could just inspire more apparel companies in search of sustainable solutions to follow in Adidas’ footsteps.
New Adidas sneaker can be recycled into a new sneaker—without any waste
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