A Sustainable Alternative To PU Foam

Whilst outer fabrics are what first come to mind when you think about designing a sustainable pack, laminates and interfacing are often a greater challenge to source.

An industry go-to material for adding padding and structure to all sorts of soft products from bags to shoes is PU foam. The downside being that PU is most commonly made from non-renewable sources and it's difficult to recycle. Sympatex is aiming to solve the problem with a new alternative to PU.

At last weeks Lineapelle trade show in Milan, laminates developer Sympatex showcased a fleece-like PU alternative made from recycled clothing fibers. According to Sympatex the material "boasts impressive performance" whilst also reducing CO2 emissions and water consumption.

Although the material has been developed specifically for shoes we're hoping it's got wider potential.