San Francisco-based footwear label Allbirds has always been focused on creating sustainable footwear products and its latest project is entitled 'SweetFoam.' The label introduces the sustainable material after three years of development. It is essentially a sole material that is constructed from renewable sugarcane. The idea to initiate this project stemmed from the idea that there was a lack of eco-based, non-petroleum-based choices for shoe soles. Tim Brown and Joey Zwillinger of Allbirds worked alongside Brazillian petrochemical label Braskem to create this vision three years ago.
The SweetFoam physically draws from sugarcanes from dense and wet fields in the South of Brazil. Drenched in rain, the fields are treated using very little fertilizer to aid its growth to be further processed in facilities that run completely on renewable energy. This makes the SweetFoam material the world's first ever carbon negative EVA polymer.
To create the soles, the sugarcane goes through a sugar mill to separate it from refined table sugar and molasses. The molasses goes through a process that meets yeast to metabolize the sugar and turn it to ethanol. Going through further chemical processes, it transforms into EVA to be blended into its final SweetFoam product.
Sustainable Sugarcane Shoe Soles
Allbirds' SweetForm Use Sugarcane to Make Eco-Friendly Soles
Trend Themes
1. Sustainable Footwear - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Developing new materials and processes to create eco-friendly and sustainable shoe soles.
2. Renewable Materials - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Exploring alternative materials like sugarcane to reduce dependence on petroleum-based options.
3. Carbon Negative Polymers - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Creating materials that have a net negative carbon footprint, contributing to sustainability efforts.
Industry Implications
1. Footwear Industry - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Reimagining the production of shoe soles by incorporating sustainable and renewable materials.
2. Chemical Industry - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Developing new chemical processes to transform renewable resources into eco-friendly materials like SweetFoam.
3. Biofuel Industry - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Leveraging existing biofuel production processes to create materials with sustainable properties.