Reebok launches first Cotton + Corn shoe
15/08/2018
Reebok’s focus with the Cotton + Corn programme is on producing footwear with “things that grow” rather than with non-renewable raw materials such as hydrocarbons. The first product it has made is a shoe it has called the NPC UK Cotton + Corn.
This shoe, named NPC in recognition of an iconic 1980s Reebok product, the Newport Classic, has an upper constructed from 100% cotton and a sole made from materials derived from corn. For the sole, Reebok worked with DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products, which has developed Susterra propanediol, a pure, petroleum-free, non-toxic product derived from field corn.
In addition, the insole uses material derived from castor oil and the packaging the brand is using for the product is 100% recycled.
“Most athletic footwear is made using petroleum to create synthetic rubber and foam cushioning systems,” said Bill McInnis, head of Reebok Future, on announcing the new shoe. “With 20 billion pairs of shoes made every year, this is not a sustainable way of making footwear. At Reebok, we asked ourselves if we could start instead with materials that grow, and use plants rather than oil-based materials. By using sustainable resources as our foundation, and then through ongoing testing and development, we were able to create a plant-based sneaker that performs and feels like any other shoe.”
He went on to claim that the NPC UK Cotton + Corn is the only footwear product on the market that has been certified as containing 75% content certified by the US Department of Agriculture as bio-based.
“This is just the start for us,” Mr McInnis said. “We are on an ongoing path to create a different type of footwear so that you can feel good about what you’re wearing and where it came from.”
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