Allbirds debuts Circ’s textile-to-textile material in footwear
Shoe brand Allbirds has teamed up with Blumaka, which converts recycled foam into footwear components, and textile-to-textile recycler Circ to create two Remix styles: the Runner NZ Remix and Cruiser Remix.
The companies estimate that the footwear industry generates 344,000 tons of waste annually for midsole foam alone —enough material to craft 2.5 billion midsoles, yet much of this foam goes unused. The materials are then generally sent to landfills where they take decades to decompose.
The Remix styles are the first footwear to utilize textile-to-textile recycled materials derived from polycotton waste, using Circ’s proprietary hydrothermal recycling process that separates and recovers cotton and polyester fibers from blended garments.
Peter Majeranowski, CEO of Circ, said: “This collaboration with Allbirds marks a major milestone in proving that textile-to-textile recycling can scale beyond apparel and into high-performance footwear.”
Previous innovations from Allbirds include Futurecraft.Footprint, an ultra-low carbon running shoe created in collaboration with Adidas; and M0.0NSHOT Zero, the world’s first net zero carbon shoe made with carbon-negative regenerative wool.
