14 Brands unite with Fashion For Good for an ambitious push into footwear circularity
Fashion for Good, a global platform for sustainable fashion innovation, has unveiled its latest initiative, Closing the Footwear Loop, a groundbreaking project aimed at addressing the footwear industry’s pressing circularity challenges. The initiative brings together 14 leading fashion and footwear brands, along with their existing circularity programs, to transform the sector’s linear "take-make-dispose" model into a circular one.
The global footwear industry produces an astounding 23.8 billion pairs of shoes annually, each composed of an average of 60 different components, including fabrics, plastics, rubber, and adhesives. This complexity has made it difficult to adopt circular practices, leaving the industry lagging behind other areas of fashion in terms of innovation and sustainability. Currently, approximately 90% of footwear ends up in landfills, contributing to a growing waste crisis.
Closing the Footwear Loop seeks to tackle these challenges by focusing on three key intervention points: the lack of end-of-life infrastructure, the complexity of multi-material designs, and the need for unified circularity approaches. The project will deliver:
A Detailed Mapping of European Footwear Waste Streams: In collaboration with Circle Economy, the initiative will provide critical data on volumes, materials, rewearability, and recyclability. A report and business case assessment are due in 2025.
A Roadmap Towards Circular Footwear Design: Developed with Fashion for Good Alumni circular.fashion, this roadmap will outline guidelines and criteria for circular and safe inputs, recyclability, durability, and repairability. The guidelines are expected in 2025.
Validation of End-of-Use Innovations: The project will conduct trials and impact assessments to overcome current bottlenecks and drive industry-wide adoption of recycled materials. Outputs are anticipated by 2026.
The initiative has garnered support from a coalition of leading brands, including adidas, DEICHMANN, Dr. Martens, Inditex, lululemon, ON, Otto Group, Puma, Reformation, Target, Tommy Hilfiger, Vivobarefoot, and Zalando. These brands, alongside ecosystem partners such as The Footwear Collective, Global Footwear Future Coalition (GFFC), and Global Fashion Agenda, are working collaboratively to drive systemic change across the industry. For more information on the Closing the Footwear Loop project, visit Fashion for Good’s website.
