Shoes under the microscope at World Bio Markets
The sixteenth edition of World Bio Markets, a conference centred on the economic potential of biomass and biotechnologies, is currently underway in The Hague.
Running between May 10 and 11 inside the Netherlandish city’s Fokker Terminal venue, the list of speakers scheduled to present over the two-day event includes adidas’ Carolin Lanfer, Benoît Cugnet of AMSilk, Nils Altrogge from athletic shoe brand On, Woolmark’s Rebecca Kelley and Patrick Van Waes of CovationBio.
A three-person panel on the first day, hosted by senior vice-president of US trade association Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA), Andy Polk, notably explored the shoe industry’s “progress and priorities” when it comes to sustainability. Tommy Hilfiger’s director of footwear sourcing and production, Nicolo Giusti, global sustainability programme manager for materials developer Arkema, Charlotte Herdt, and vice-president of research at consultancy Material ConneXion, Gayatri Keskar, all took part.
Mr Altrogge, On’s head of technology innovation, will deliver a keynote address on May 11. He is expected to discuss pathways to “turning carbon emissions into running shoes”, such as the company's CleanCloud EVA foam.
