Bayer claims new green shoe concept
15/09/2010
These include renewable polyurethane feedstocks, raw materials for solvent-free coatings and adhesives, and a polycarbonate blend and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) based on renewable resources. Up to 90% of all components in the Ecotrekker concept shoe can be eco-friendly, Bayer says.
“Footwear manufacturers, end consumers and, not least, the environment can all benefit equally from this development,” said Dr John Zhang, head of Bayer MaterialScience’s global footwear competence centre in Shanghai, where the concept was developed.
In microcellular polyurethane elastomer systems for outer soles and midsoles alone, the proportion of renewable raw materials is as high as 70%, the company said, and the proportion of renewable materials in products and technologies developed in-house for solvent- and plasticizer-free textile coatings and adhesive raw materials is up to 40%. Using these coatings and adhesives alone would cut global emissions of organic solvents by approximately 150,000 tonnes, Bayer said.
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