The recycled cork stoppers in treec shoes
13/07/2020
By Treec
At Treec we place a great importance to innovation, differentiation and sustainability. We seek to make a difference by creating fashion that makes us feel good and at the same time that we promote a sustainable impact on the environment.
Cork, as we know, is Treec’s best friend with unique characteristics that make us dream, imagine and create. It was with a critical and dreamy spirit that we looked at the environmental impact of wine consumption, and more precisely at the environmental impact of the cork stoppers.
The cork stoppers & the environment
The big worldwide consumption of wine means that an enormous amount of cork is produced, with an estimated 40 million cork stoppers being produced in Portugal every day. Although the cork stopper has excellent natural properties, and if disposed of in the garbage the natural the stoppers are biodegradable and do not pollute the environment. However, and there is always a but, naturally in its decomposition, the stoppers release CO2 into the atmosphere contributing to global warming.
Having in mind that cork has such great resistance characteristics, if we recycle the stoppers and incorporate them for other uses and purposes beyond the initial one, we are giving a new life to the material and preventing other products potentially environment harmful to be produced . There are several examples where the stoppers were reused with enormous success: as coating, in kayak boats, tennis balls, badminton rackets and lastly…fashion.
Recycling Stoppers for Fashion - The Treec stoppersoles
Strongly motivated to make a positive difference, we partner with cork producers and restaurants in the Porto area to collect cork waste and used stoppers. After this collection, we teamed up with a local sole producer who, using innovative technology, managed to incorporate cork into the soles.
The results were excellent. We managed to reduce the use of rubber by 30% replacing it with cork and aesthetically we loved the result. We ended up with a unique, sustainable and beautiful sole – we call them the STOPPERSOLES and they can be found in our shoes collection ready to be launched soon.
It can also be of your interest: Shoe soles what are they made with?
