Tuesday, September 13, 2022 - 16:01English

 

On 7th September 2022, the partners of the LIFE GreenShoes4All project met again in hybrid format, this time in Elda (Spain) at the INESCOP premises, or virtually. The meeting was an occasion to wrap up the four years of intense work undertaken by all partners from Belgium, Portugal, Romania and Spain, to assess the main achievements and to define the last activities before Friday, 30th September, official end of the project, as well as the after-life of the project. 

The project goes beyond the definition and implementation of the Product Environmental Footprint category rules (PEFCR) which are being addressed by the Technical Secretariat for Apparel and Footwear supported by the European Commission. In the first part of the project, the partners drafted Eco-design guidelines for footwear, which have been tested with fruitful confirmations of the original theses. Supported by the eco-design guidelines and by using the PEFCR, the companies partner in the project are currently recycling up to 100% of their manufacturing waste. The resulting products have already been certified and will be soon placed on the market, meaning that the project’s efforts on bringing the industry towards a greener footwear industry have exceeded the original expectations. 

It is paramount to underline that such success has relied as well on the contribution of the footwear companies that have orientated the partners towards the core needs of the sector. In this regard, and in a final attempt to assess the latest needs and business strategies of companies, the consortium warmly invites all footwear companies to bring their contribution to the LIFE GreenShoes4All project by answering to the short survey Is your company producing green goods in an eco-friendly way? (link available HERE). The findings of the survey aim to support the footwear industry to decide on the interest and way forward for a sustainable manufacturing strategy. 

We invite you to keep visiting the website www.greenshoes4all.eu to stay up-to-date with the project activities. Last but not least, the partners will be attending the trade fairs of MICAM and LINEAPELLE, both in Milan from 18th-20th and 20th-22th September respectively, to show you more in detail what has been done and the plans for the near future. We look forward to welcoming you there and answering to all your questions! 

The LIFE GREEN SHOES 4 ALL (LIFE17 ENV/PT/000337) project is been co-funded with support from the European Commission under the LIFE+ programme. This publicationreflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. 

Press release

C.E.C.

Brussels 13 September 2022