If you have some of the Latest sneakers You may notice something unusual from Stella McCartney: the soles smell like cinnamon.
That’s because they are painted with cinnamon waste instead of synthetic colors – one of the ways in which the soles are designed to be as sustainable as possible. They are also made from other vegetable components such as ricinus beans. When the sneakers wear out, the soles can be composted or recycled.
[Photo: Stella McCartney]
For the brand, the sole was the missing piece when making a circular product. An earlier version of the sneaker, which was released in 2022, used materials such as grape-based leather in the upper and recycled TPU tpu shoe and type of plastic-in the sole. But that was not a complete solution.
The plastic -based plastics in typical soles, such as TPU or EVA, have several challenges in the field of sustainability. They are energy-intensive to produce and are rarely recycled. When they end up in a landfill, the material can take hundreds of years. Even if a certain shoe uses recycled material, it can break down and create microplastic pollution when you walk or walk.
To find an alternative, the Stella McCartney team collaborated with WhaleA startup of material sciences was aimed at biopolymers.
“The real obstacle was how to match the sustainability and flexibility of traditional fossil-based plastics … using a bio-based material that could also break down at the end of life,” says Yael Vrutu, head of the product in Balena, which is located in Tel Aviv, Israel and Milan. “That balance between real compostability without sacrificing performance was simply not yet cracked. Most biodegradable materials on the market are simply not built to cope with stress, wear and a long service life in a sneaker sole. That is where our material came in.”
[Photo: Stella McCartney]
The startup has developed a new product, called Biocir Flex, designed to have the same comfort and resilience as conventional plastic, but with the possibility to be composted in an industrial facility or recycled. “In essence, we have made a material that behaves as a plastic when you need it, and as nature when you are ready,” says Vanstu.
Balena had already started working on the material before collaboration with Stella McCartney, but then brought two years together with the Designer label to go through multiple development rounds, from laboratory tests to real-world production runs.
The white version of the new sneaker, the $ 550 S-Golf, uses a mix of hemp and agricultural waste from the pineapple industry in the upper of the shoe. When the shoe wears out, it can be sent back to Stella McCartney. The company will then separate the components. Although the soles can be composted, the brand priority to recycle the material in new soles, so that it can prevent the footprint of the environment to make the material again.
The material is still more expensive than standard TPU, both because on bio-based production and circular supply chains are still ripening. Some brands, such as Stella McCartney, are willing to pay the higher account. “They see the value in future proofing against regulations, reducing environmental risks and building deeper connections with consumers who expect products to really match their values,” says Vandu.
In theory, the material can scale up to be used on a large scale in the industry. “Now it is about building robust supply chains and systems for the end of life and giving brands priority to circularity, not just for capsule collections, but about their main lines,” says Urtu. “Regular momentum and the growing expectations of the consumer will certainly accelerate that shift.”
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