Athletic and outdoor footwear brands Brooks Running, New Balance, On, Vibram, Crocs and Ecco, along with US lifestyle brand Reformation and US retailer Target, have partnered with EarthDNA to launch The Footwear Collective (TFC), a non-profit initiative dedicated to uniting the global footwear industry to accelerate the transition to a circular economy. EarthDNA is a non-profit organization based in Massachusetts, USA, with the mission to empower everyone to act every day to heal spaceship Earth within one decade by interacting with a curated AI operating platform.
23.9 billion pairs of shoes per year
In 2022, 23.9 billion pairs of shoes were produced worldwide, most of which will end up in landfills or incineration sooner or later, according to Statista. Most sustainability efforts in the fashion industry have so far focused on apparel and not footwear due to the complexity of manufacturing and the composition of the material mix of footwear. “We have a unique opportunity to create collective action to decarbonize this industry by driving change towards a circular economy,” comments the Footwear Collective in a press release.
The mentioned footwear, fashion and retail companies are the founding members who have come together in the belief that the footwear industry needs to transition from a linear to a circular system and that this transition can be accelerated if we unite as an industry to create scalable impact. TFC unites the footwear industry to develop global solutions for this innovative, waste-minimizing, emissions-reducing and circular approach.
“EarthDNA is excited to launch The Footwear Collective Initiative as a new opportunity and model for industries to collaborate across industries, academia, brands, and suppliers – recognizing the strengths and importance of each collaborator, but also the need to bring all of these perspectives and expertise together to solve the complex problems that propel climate change,” offers Guillermo Trotti, co-founder of The Footwear Collective and EarthDNA. “For EarthDNA, this is the beginning of something big.”
TFC is EarthDNA’s first industry-specific initiative. It perfectly complements EarthDNA’s other data-driven technology initiatives, including an advanced, AI-driven, open climate platform and a student climate ambassador program that empowers the next generation of climate leaders to accelerate change and positive action to save planet Earth.
