AI Drives New Push to Scale Footwear Recycling
LW Desk
Artificial intelligence is starting to change the way old footwear is collected, sorted and recycled, as brands and recycling companies look for faster and more efficient ways to deal with growing amounts of footwear waste, according to BCC Research.
The research firm’s latest report on the impact of AI on footwear recycling highlights the challenges involved in recycling shoes and the growing role of automated technologies.
Recycling footwear is difficult because a single shoe can contain more than 65 different materials, including rubber, foam, textiles and adhesives. Separating these materials by hand can be slow and costly, while traditional recycling methods can struggle to produce good-quality recovered materials.
New AI-based systems are helping address these problems. CETIA’s automated dismantling technology, for example, can process up to 120 shoes per hour. Other technologies use cameras, sensors and artificial intelligence to identify and separate different materials more efficiently.
The report also points to the growing use of near infrared (NIR) technology for material separation. Sneaker Impact, for instance, uses this technology to recover materials that can be used to make products such as floor mats and sandals containing recycled foam.
AI is also being used to improve the environmental performance of recycling. THE 8 IMPACT’s technology is reported to reduce CO₂ emissions by 50% compared with the production of virgin rubber.
At the same time, footwear brands are expanding take-back and collection program. Sneaker Impact has upcycled more than 15 million pairs of footwear through a network of more than 3,000 collection locations.
According to BCC Research, stricter environmental rules, growing footwear waste and increasing pressure on brands to improve sustainability are encouraging the industry to find more efficient recycling solutions.
The development of AI powered sorting, dismantling and material separation could help the footwear industry move towards larger scale recycling and make circular footwear programs more practical.
