Boston-based Reebok recently launched the first product in its Cotton + Corn sustainable product line. The plant-based NPC UK Cotton + Corn shoes feature a 100-percent cotton upper and a corn-based thermoplastic polyurethane sole made using Loudon, Tenn.-based DuPont Tate & Lyle’s Susterra® propanediol — a petroleum-free, non-toxic product that contains 100-percent U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified biobased content. Insoles in the shoe are derived from castor bean oil, and the shoe is sold in packaging that is 100-percent recycled.
“At Reebok, we thought ‘what if we start with materials that grow, and use plants rather than oil-based materials?’” said Bill McInnis, head of Rebook Future. “By using sustainable resources as our foundation, and then through ongoing testing and development, we were able to create a plant-based sneaker that performs and feels like any other shoe.”
September/October 2018
