Circular footwear industry

Every year, 40 million pairs of shoes are imported into Sweden. A majority of the environmental impact occurs in production and it is currently also difficult to recycle shoes.

At the same time, Sweden burns large amounts of textile waste every year. By breaking down these textiles and using them as a new material for 3D printing shoes, several sustainability challenges can be solved. The environmental impact can be reduced by up to 95% per shoe, according to calculations.

The project is based on a radical system innovation and is a potential game changer for the industry. 3D printing shoes using textile waste as raw material is a first step, the technology can also be used to 3D print other types of consumer goods and components in the manufacturing industry.

The aim is to confirm the hypothesis that a new circular and bio-based value chain, using textile waste as raw material, can provide the market with sustainable and recyclable footwear.

Objectives of the project

The aim is to produce four 3D printed shoe prototypes of different combinations of materials and designs. By the end of the project:

- Two of these have been tested and evaluated by customers in the footwear market.
- A report will be ready containing a market analysis and a calculation of the environmental impact.

Implementation

The project builds the concept on two areas that have made major research and development progress in recent years. Firstly, pioneering research in nanocellulose at Stockholm University. And increasingly sophisticated 3D printing technology. The combination of these makes a new material and product flow possible.

Textiles are broken down into cellulose. By using mixed fractions, e.g. acrylic/wool, polyester/cotton, instead of pure cotton, it can be converted directly into a 3D printable material.

Within the project, Wargön Innovation supplies Stockholm University with materials via its textile sorting test and demo facility.

The Bioinnovation Innovation Program supports innovative, small-scale research and innovation projects that address a radical and innovative issue. This means that the novelty value and uncertainty factor may be higher than in more traditional projects. BioInnovation is a joint initiative of Vinnova, Formas and the Swedish Energy Agency.