The rise of sustainable safety shoes: from material revolution to circular economy

Innovation in recycled materials: EcoGuard of the Netherlands uses recycled plastic from the ocean to make shoe uppers.

Each pair of shoes consumes 12 plastic bottles, and carbon emissions are 60% lower than traditional processes;

Breakthrough in bio-based materials: BioStep of Brazil uses polylactic acid (PLA) extracted from sugarcane bagasse to make shoe soles, which can be naturally degraded after being discarded;

Circular economy model: GreenStep of Sweden launched a “trade-in” service. After recycling old shoes. they are cleaned, repaired, reducing customer costs by 40% and increasing corporate gross profit margins by 15%.
The EU requires that all safety shoes must be labeled with product carbon labels from 2027, forcing companies to accelerate low-carbon transformation.

Chinese manufacturers such as Anta Safety have established a carbon footprint traceability system to achieve full emission reduction from raw materials to finished products.