Huntsman introduces ‘first’ LTPU for midsoles
US chemicals supplier Huntsman has presented the industry’s first liquid thermoplastic polyurethane (LTPU) for high-performing midsoles, it says.
The material made its dual debut at both leather and tanning machinery and technologies fair Simac Tanning Tech in Milan and the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America’s Shoe Sustainability Summit in Portland, Oregon, in September.
Huntsman Polyurethane’s SmartLite O LTPU system offers a simpler, single-step process versus expanded forms of TPU, meaning less water, energy, waste and carbon emissions. It can be converted and repurposed mechanically to make new outsoles and cupsoles from either post-industrial or post-consumer material.
Huntsman said the innovation opens up fresh avenues for creating improved colouration and fades, “without silver lines or the popcorn effect”.
The company launched the LTPU alongside German group Framas, an injection moulding specialist and producer of plastic shoe components.
Framas already has two 80-station Gusbi machines in Vietnam and recently invested in a 12-station version for sampling and development at its Pirmasens headquarters for this purpose. It can make as many as two million soling constructions from SmartLite O LTPU annually.
“The material stands out from the competition,” commented Huntsman's senior director for global elastomers, Alexis Bortoluzzi, citing its “multiple advantages over and above” polyurethane, expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (ETPU) and ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA).
“A number of big brands have already expressed considerable interest in the technology and we look forward to bring[ing] the material and all its benefits to market.”
Image: Huntsman/WTP.
