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Shoe Waste: Reducing the carbon footprint of shoes

6 April 2022 | Member Stories

Catalyst 2030 member Shoe Waste

Catalyst 2030 member Shoe Waste is an organisation based in the USA that aims to establish a waste management facility for shoes.

Sustainable Development Goals targeted

SDG 12 Responsible consumption and production SDG 13 Climate action

Social entrepreneurs are known for finding solutions for society’s problems. What is the problem that you are addressing, and what is your solution?

In the USA roughly 300 million pairs of shoes are thrown away each year and end up in landfills. In Los Angeles there are 118 footwear brands, manufacturers and factories but no existing infrastructure for waste management of footwear or shoes. Shoe Waste hopes to establish a waste facility that manufactures sustainably in a circular economy. This means that old shoes and their materials would be reused, repaired, refurbished, and recycled again and again, for as long as possible.

What do you see as the benefit of your Catalyst 2030 membership?

Catalyst 2030 is a space with like-minded people who want to address similar concerns within the SDGs, such as human rights, clean water, housing, or waste. Catalyst 2030 also has members that we can collaborate with to solve problems together.

Are you collaborating with any other Catalyst 2030 members?

Yes. At the moment we are collaborating with Kamilah Sanders from Greater than Equal in a programme to show young teens the importance of sustainable fashion. We are also part of the Sustainable Fashion collaboration group at Catalyst 2030, which aims to accelerate meaningful and lasting change in the fashion industry and change consumer behaviour to achieve the SDGs by 2030.

What else would you like to highlight about your organisation?

Shoe Waste is actively searching for experts to take part in the Shoe Waste programme. It can be easily recreated anywhere in the world where shoes are made in high volume. We are experts in our field of footwear development, design, and production, and we know the consequences of the waste from shoes on the local and global environment. I challenge the fashion industry experts to #designbetter and think deeply about what they are putting out there.

Link to website

https://shoewaste.com/about

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