Electrical transport fleet Packaging material

Customers and partners are visited regularly and then travelling with a car is often unavoidable. To make this travel more sustainable, we drew up the ‘completely electric driving’ policy. We will replace the entire transport fleet with electric vehicles.

In 2021, half of Allshoes’ transport fleet consisted of electric vehicles. As from the beginning of 2022, employees can only choose an electric vehicle. By the beginning of 2024, all diesel or petrol vehicles will be completely phased out and we will be driving only on electricity.

We feel it is important to reduce the use of raw materials and to prevent contamination. Since we do not produce footwear ourselves, our largest waste stream consists of packaging material. For this reason, we are critical when examining our use of packaging. Is packaging material really necessary? How can we replace conventional materials with more sustainable alternatives? What happens to it as soon as it has lost its packaging function? Asking these questions led to various action points with the focus on the reduction of the use of materials and, where possible, using environmentally friendly and recycled materials.

No more plastics

Our goal is to eliminate the use of plastic packaging materials. Where the use of plastic is absolutely necessary, we look to see whether we can reduce the quantity or replace it with recycled plastic. For example, in 2020 we stopped using plastic tape and we now use paper tape to seal our shipments. The use of plastic wrapping film has also been halved since then.

Footwear boxes

FSC paper – The fibres of this paper come from sustainably managed forests or from recycled paper. At this time, 50% of our footwear manufacturers use Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) paper for their footwear boxes. By the end of 2022, all paper in our boxes must be FSC certified.

Water-based ink – This ink contains less hazardous substances than conventional ink and is therefore better for the health of people and the environment. At this time, more than 65% of our footwear manufacturers use water-based ink when printing their footwear boxes. By the end of 2022, all footwear boxes must be printed with water-based ink.

Reducing input – Although replacing traditional materials with more environmentally friendly alternatives is a step in the right direction, the most sustainable choice continues to be a reduction in the material itself. Reducing the print, making the box smaller or possibly even eliminating the footwear box are options that we are studying at this time.

Outer boxes

The boxes delivered to us by our suppliers are reused when shipping packages to our customers. In this way, we reduce the use of materials and we prevent waste.

Waste

Circularity is based on a world without waste where materials and raw materials are reused as much as possible. We aim to eliminate waste in our own operations. By this we mean that no waste goes to the tip. Rather, it is recycled or, better yet, prevented in the first place. Are we there yet?

No, not yet. We did map the waste streams in our warehouse in 2018. Since that time, the type and amount of waste is registered monthly. Although several changes have been implemented (read the chapter on packaging, page 51), in 2022 there will be a greater focus on the effective management and reduction of these waste streams.

Allshoes supports suppliers in reducing and recycling their waste streams.

No waste

AMF, the producer of a large number of Redbrick models, recycles its own production waste. The residual material that arises during the production process is collected and reused in the production of new footwear soles. No material is lost.