Textile Insight

FOOTWEAR/CIRCULARITY 14 • Textile Insight ~ Spring 2025 textileinsight.com strategies, such as Sustainable Consumption and Climate Action, keeping Brooks fo- cused and moving in the right direction, according to Dave Kemp, director of corporate sustainability at Brooks. Waste reduction, for in- stance, is being tackled from many different angles, rang- ing from downcycling into other industries' applications to strategies to recycle waste back into Brooks products. "Just last year we started a strategy with one of our toe box material suppliers where they take the cutting waste and recycle it to make more of that material again and then ship it back to Brooks' factories. It's a really interest- ing pilot that we are looking to scale, and hopefully ac- celerate to other suppliers," Kemp adds. Other sustainability strat- egies top of mind at Brooks are decoupling product from non-renewable resources and ultimately moving it towards a circular future. e Glycerin Max shoe features a bio-based EVA midsole and an upper made of 66.4 percent recycled materials. There is an overall shift occurring in how industry thinks about collaboration, understanding that this is now almost required to overcome challenges facing brands' cir- cular targets. Kemp describes "going beyond working with dedicated sustainability team members to now pulling in teams from other divisions as well." It also extends to working with other brands, even direct competitors. e exec gives as an example e Footwear Collective, an orga- nization established in 2023 that is bringing like-minded companies together in a pre-competitive atmosphere to brainstorm development of industry wide solutions. n NNormal's durability study aims to reduce waste and consumption to foster a circular future. Vibram's digital Repair If You Care campaign highlights the value of shoe repair.

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