The Problem of
Shoe Industry Waste
The Problem of
Shoe Industry Waste
Everybody wears shoes. Shoes are an essential item in our life.
What is the impact of shoes on our environment? We must learn and concern with the current serious problem of shoe industry waste and its impact on the environment.
Have you ever thought about it?
By improving our understanding of the problems, we involve in the movement to save our planet.
Contents
Part 1 Before Use Manufacturing Issues The many problems occur
Part 2 After Use
10
Shoe Industry Waste The serious problem of
in the shoe manufacturing
shoe industry waste and its
process.
impact on the environment
26
and people.
Additional Issue The shoe industry affects
22
Things to Know The disposal process after
not only environmental
shoes are worn out and
issues but also social issues.
what we can do to prevent shoe waste.
36
1
Before Use
“The environment will continue to deteriorate until pollution practices are abandoned.” —B.F.skinner (Psychologist)
Manufacturing Issues
Shoes are a product of everyday use that everyone in the world owns. There are more than 20 billion pairs of shoes manufactured each year. However, too much of anything isn’t good as there are many environmental impacts of shoe industry that cannot be ignored much longer.
Shoe manufacturing and shoes in general poses many threats to the wellbeing of our planet as many toxins, fossil fuels and chemicals are produced and leaked into the environment during the first and last steps in the shoe life cycle.
One of the largest environmental impacts of shoes come from the manufacturing stages of the shoe life cycle and surprisingly, out of the people surveyed a majority of them believe that shoes only an environmental impact after they are thrown out.
16/17
On average, the production of one shoe produces 30 pounds of carbon dioxide. Many chemical adhesives and tanning chemicals are used to process different parts of the shoe. To power these machines, a great amount of fossil fuels are needed and these fossil fuels produce greenhouse gases when burned. Coal is one of the sources of energy that used very often to power these factories as it quite cheap compared to oil or other sources of energy. Burning coal produces carbon dioxide which eventually ends up in our atmosphere, contributing the greenhouse effect, which is not a positive effect for the environment.
Part 1: Before Use
Another aspect that is regularly overlooked and also contributes to the carbon dioxide emissions from shoes is the transportation. This is because transportation is fundamental to the marketing aspect of the shoe industry as most footwear manufacturing companies choose to build factories in third world companies for cheap labour. Since these factories are situated far away, transportation such as ships, airplanes and trucks are needed in order to deliver the goods to the retailers.
18/19
Next, chemicals used in the manufacturing process also contribute to the negative impact that shoes have on the environment. Many chemical adhesives and tanning chemicals are used to process different parts of the shoe. An example of some of these chemicals include Chlorinated phenols, tribromoethanol, chlorinated paraffins, dimethyl fumarate etc, which are used to preserve the materials, such as leather, in shoes. These chemicals are easily leaked into the environment and water through the discharge from the factories. These chemicals can harm the wildlife who may consume infected water or plants
Part 1: Before Use
20/21
A large amount of carbon dioxide and other pollutants are pumped into our atmosphere from the shoe industries. These greenhouse gases are one of greatest contributors to global warming. The global warming harms both the wildlife and humans that come in contact with them, which, in turn, causes many health problems.
Part 1: Before Use
Additional Issues
Sweatshops and poor working conditions have been present for centuries. Often times little or nothing is done unless a tragedy occurs to persuade the public to rally for worker rights.
Most employees of shoe factory are still being coerced into working up to 70 hours per week and are being humiliated in front of other workers or threatened with dismissal if they refuse to do the extra work. When many of us think of sweatshops, we envision places, far away accompanied with horrible images of underage children and fragile women locked in huge, dreary factories with no windows, sitting at sewing machines for an ungodly amount of time. The definition of the word sweatshop is “a factory or workshop, especially in the clothing industry, where manual workers are employed at very low wages for long hours and under poor conditions.�
2
After Use
“Sustainability is the key to our survival on this planet and will also determine success on all levels.” —Shari Arison (Philanthropist)
Shoe Industry Waste
We already have enough shoes that we can wear every day, but we still buy shoes again. It’s estimated that 20 billion pairs of shoes are produced annually, and unfortunately, roughly 300 million pairs are thrown away each year, too.
Compared to the number of shoes people actually wear, the number of shoes in a wardrobe is usually significantly much more. Nevertheless, shoe overconsumption continues to increase.
In a society where the population is increasing a high demand for resources and goods is putting a pressure on the environment. Additionally, since the growing economies world wide result in higher consumption, the main sustainability issue to use resources without threatening the safety and well-being of future generations and the environment has become important.
34/35
Shoe waste occurs entirely too much and is 100 percent avoidable. Ethylene Vinyl Acetate, a material commonly found in the midsole of running shoes, can last for as long as 1,000 years in a landfill. When considering the sheer volume of shoe waste, it’s environmentally irresponsible to toss shoes in a landfill where they’ll impact the planet for centuries.
Part 2: After Use
Things to Know
Cycle of Shoe Use
Manufacture
Recycle
Remake
Use
Reuse
38/39
In fact less than 5% of end-of-life shoes are being recycled, with most being disposed of in landfill sites around the globe.
One of the primary reasons is that most modern footwear products contain a complex mixture of leather, rubber, textile, polymers and metallic materials, that makes it difficult to perform complete separation and reclamation of material streams in an economically sustainable manner.
Part 2: After Use
The right way to recycle shoes is to use technology. An air-based recycling system is presented that separates shoes into four district material streams. For certain categories of shoes rubber yield and purity can be in excess of 85%. The process begins with shoes being manually sorted into broad categories, and having metal components such as eyelets removed. They are then automatically shredded and granulated, ending up as tiny fragments. Those fragments are sorted according to material, using three main methods —cyclonic separation, zigzag separation, and vibrating tables.
Before recycling worn out shoes, we need to think about increasing shoe durability and preventing overconsumption.
Reduce
Reuse
Lowering the amount of waste produced
Using materials repeatedly
Recycle
Using materials to make new products
Recovery
Landfill
Recovering energy from waste
Safe disposal of waste to landfill
Let’s start to do with KixUp, and save your shoes and environment.
44/45 Part 2: After Use
Learn
Clean&Repair
Donate&Exchange
Glossary
Carbon Dioxide
A colorless gas produced by burning carbon and by respiration. It is naturally present in the air and usually obtained from coal, coke, or natural gas by combustion.
Global
An increase in the earth’s average atmospheric temperature
Warming
that causes corresponding changes in climate and that may result from the greenhouse effect.
Fossil Fuel
Any combustible organic material, as oil, coal, or natural gas, derived from the remains of former life.
Greenhouse
Any of the gases whose absorption of solar radiation is
Gas
responsible for the greenhouse effect, including carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, and the fluorocarbons.
Transportation The action of transporting someone or something or the process of being transported.
Toxin
It is produced by or derived from microorganisms and causing disease when present at low concentration in the body.
Manufacture
The making of goods or wares by manual labor or by machinery, especially on a large scale.
Tanning
The process of converting hides or skins into leather.
Metal
Any of a class of elementary substances, as gold, silver, or copper, all of which are crystalline when solid and many of which are characterized by opacity, ductility, conductivity.
Polymer
A compound of high molecular weight derived either by the addition of many smaller molecules.
Ethylene
It is usually obtained from petroleum and natural gas and used as an agent to improve the color of citrus fruits.
Vinyl
Any resin formed by polymerizing vinyl compounds, or any of a group of plastics made from such resins.
Chemical
A substance produced by or used in a chemical process.
Acetate
Fabric composed of a derivative of the acetic ester of cellulose, differing from viscose rayon in having greater strength when wet and greater sensitivity to high temperatures.
Sweatshops
A shop employing workers at low wages, for long hours, and under poor conditions.
Adhesive
Coated with glue, paste, mastic, or other sticky substance.
Sources
Part 1 Before Use
Part 2 After Use
sneakerfactory.net
usagainblog.com
theshoeindustry.weebly.com
wisebread.com
everythinggirlslove.com
sciencedirect.com sinoshredder.com shoezone.com sciencedirect.com youtube.com
Contact
KixUp
Website
kixup.org
Cover
Softcover
Interior
Proline Uncoated #100
Fonts
Apercu, Roboto Slab
Software
Adobe Creative Suite
©2018 All Rights Reserved No part of this publication can be reproduced without expressed permission from KixUp.
A KixUp publication about the serious problem of shoe industry waste and its impact on the environment.
kixup.org