A shoe with a midsole made from carbon emissions
Swiss sports brand On developed what they say is the first shoe with an midsole made from carbon emission.
Called Cloudprime, the shoe’s midsole uses a foam material called CleanCloud, which is an EVA (ethelyne vinyl acetate) foam and made from captured carbon emissions.
On partnered with various companies, LanzaTech, Borealis and Technip Energies, to create the shoe. Technology from LanzaTech captures carbon monoxide from industrial sources like steel mills from being released into the atmosphere. Once captured, the emissions enter a patented fermentation process. In this, “specially selected and naturally occuring bacteria” ferment the carbon rich gas into ethanol, a process similar to conventional alcohol production. The ethanol is then dehydrated to create ethylene by Technip Energies, which is then polymerized by Borealis to become EVA in a form of solid small plastic pellets. On then uses these pellets to create a performance foam for shoes.
On also collaborates with circular startup Novoloop for the shoe’s outsole, utilizing “the world’s first chemically upcycled TPU from post-consumer plastic waste” according to the press release. For the upper, On works with French start-up Fairbrics to create polyester-based textile made from carbon emissions.
Photos: On