Textile recycling group Cyclo is launching a range of footwear developed exclusively with preferred materials.
Dubbed Cyclonic, the line’s debut sneaker style features Cyclo’s low-carbon recycled cotton fibers and recycled polyester made from post-consumer plastic waste. Blended together in a 70 percent to 30 percent ratio, those elements form the shoes’ durable canvas upper, while the midsole is crafted from a woven jute.
Known for its longevity and biodegradability, jute is grown using minimal resources, from water to land and agricultural chemicals. Processing the plant’s lengthy fibers can also be done without harmful synthetic substances, and can actually capture carbon. Currently, the shoe’s outsole is made of reclaimed rubber, but Cyclonic aims to develop a low-carbon alternative incorporating bio-based elements like algae moving forward.
“A common issue facing the circularity movement today is the limited use case for the recycled fibers made from variant, traditionally non-optimal inputs,” Cyclo Recycled Fibers president Mustafain Munir said. “A more robust fabric such as footwear uppers will allow greater adoption of recycled fibers without comprising style or performance.”
Munir believes the material in question could evolve to incorporate more recycled fibers in the future. Launched first in Japan for use in house slippers, the fabrication lends itself to a variety of men’s and women’s shoe styles.
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Bangladesh-based Cyclo has developed a textile-to-textile recycling infrastructure based in the collection of pre-consumer textile manufacturing waste. The group collects its clients’ cutting room scraps from the manufacturer, mechanically recycles them, and spins them into new yarns to be delivered back to the manufacturer for use in future products.
The solution, which debuted with coarse lower-quality yarns used chiefly to produce cleaning materials and home textiles, has evolved over the past decade. Today, Cyclo’s high-quality cotton-based yarns can be applied commercially across a range of categories. Because the eco-conscious process eschews the use of synthetic dyes, the color of the collected fabric waste determines the color of the resulting yarn. According to Cyclo, different shades of shredded waste can be blended together later in the process to create an approximate match for a brand’s desired hue.
The group, which deals exclusively with cotton waste, recommends that brands choose other sustainable fibers like recycled polyester, viscose, acrylic, EcoVera or Tencel to blend with the reclaimed cotton to ensure its integrity. All of Cyclo’s yarns are at least 50-percent recycled cotton.