TEXTILES.ORG
Sympatex Technologies announces that RICOSTA shoes will use Sympatex 100 percent recycled lining materials in creating its eco-friendly children’s shoes. The linings consist of global recycled standard or bluesign® certified polyester fibers made from recycled PET bottles.
According to Sympatex, compared to producing 1 kilogram of new polyester fibers, the production of 1 kilogram of recycled fibers can reduce CO2 emissions by 32 percent, reduce energy consumption by 60 percent and use 94 percent less water.
The companies have committed to a point-of-sale education component of a campaign promoting the new shoes. Sympatex has developed a compact children’s book titled Sam and the Plastic Plan, to teach children about the importance of recycling. During winter 2018–2019, each pair of Pepino and RICOSTA children’s shoes will come with a copy of the book.
Sympatex CEO Dr. Rüdiger Fox expressed the company’s concern for the future. “We think that the youngest of the next generation must have a say . . . in ecological issues. If we don’t close the plastic cycle as soon as possible, the next generation,when they have become adults, will find more plastic than fish in the oceans.”
RICOSTA is a family company that has been producing children’s shoes for more than 45 years and is committed to sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Sympatex Technologies has been a global producer of high-tech functional materials for clothing, footwear, accessories and technical fields of application since 1986.