Dow pursues sustainable footwear project
02/04/2009
Dow Polyurethane (PU) Systems, working with the Italian producer of polyurethane shoe soles Mondial Suole, will test newly developed elastomeric polyurethane material with renewable content for use in the footwear industry.
The polyurethane, containing polyols made Dow’s Renuva renewable resource technology, incorporates 20–25% of raw materials derived from renewable sources. The companies have said that this new product, once evaluated by the footwear industry, could be a step forward in bringing more environmentally sustainable practices to the shoe manufacturing process.
The project, called Green Footprint, was made possible by a grant from the European Commission’s 2008 LIFE+ programme, which aims to reduce the environmental impact of goods and services and promote clean, innovative technologies. Dow’s proposal was selected from among 325 submissions from other European industries and institutions in the category of Environmental Policy and Governance.
“Consumer interest in ‘green’ products is holding strong, even in today’s challenging economic climate, and footwear industry is increasingly adopting ‘green’ processes and materials,” said Giuseppe Vairo of Dow Polyurethane Systems. “Our new polyurethane can help to enable production of high-quality shoes with less burden on the environment. It’s a way for manufacturers to stand apart from the competition and delight customers, especially given that polyurethane soles have long been recognised for exceptional comfort, flexibility and durability.”
The new polyurethane system can offer, according to Dow, a reduction of up to 25% in fossil fuels usage and energy savings of 13%, resulting in a reduced carbon footprint of 0.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide per tonne of PU produced.
Dow and Mondial Suole plan to run preliminary customer trials by mid-2009 and to begin a broad market validation process in the first quarter of 2010. The polyurethane material is produced at Dow’s Correggio site, Italy.
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