Step Into Sustainability With Merrell’s Eco-Friendly Footwear
As we strive to leave a lasting impact on our planet, it's crucial that we all take responsibility for our actions and do our part to preserve the environment for future generations. With this in mind, Merrell is committed to going above and beyond the bare minimum of office recycling efforts, and instead focuses on creating comfortable footwear that incorporates sustainable materials and eco-friendly manufacturing processes - because we know that every step counts in our collective journey towards a more sustainable world.
What Makes Our Materials Sustainable?
We are always looking for new and innovative ways to make our products more sustainable, whether it means using recycled plastic found littered in the sea, or even regrinding our factory waste to make new shoe components, we never give up on our efforts.
Up to this point, the sustainable materials used for manufacturing can be seen in the following three components:
1. Polyester
The polyester we use is made from recycled plastic materials. Take single-use water bottles as an example: these are used and disposed of daily in substantial quantities, making them the ideal material to recycle into recycled polyester. Recycled polyester still contains all of the key properties of virgin polyester; however, it helps get rid of plastic waste. As such, we aim to use recycled polyester as much as possible and only use virgin polyester when absolutely necessary.
2. Rubber
Through our partnership with our materials suppliers, we procure their post-industrial scrap rubber and recycle it for the soles of our footwear. In fact, our Gridway collection contains 30% of recycled rubber in the soles.
3. EVA
During our midsole manufacturing process, a lot of waste is produced. However, we try to use as much of this scrap as possible in different areas of our footwear. For example, once again in our Gridway collection, the midsole and insole comprise recycled EVA materials.
Breaking Down Our Leather and Natural Materials Sourcing
Our brand makes use of leather for a number of our footwear ranges. However, we always strive to ensure that this process is conducted in the most environmentally friendly method possible because we believe that in this area, we truly can help make a difference for the environment.
For this reason, our parent company joined the Leather Working Group (LWG) back in 2006 to establish strong environmentally friendly practices when it came to manufacturing our leather products. The LWG has worked to ensure that leather manufacturing processes always hold environmental ethics as a priority, and as such, has put together guidelines to ensure there is always continuous improvement.
The leather that we use for our products is a by-product of the meat industry. Moreover, we have many protocols in place to ensure that our suppliers can verify that the hide we are sourcing from them complies with the high standards we have set.
Our products make use of a lot of natural materials such as wool and cotton. We specifically designed our products in this way because natural materials are renewable resources which can be sourced in an environmentally friendly manner. These materials can also be recycled and are naturally biodegradable. We also ensure that our wool is sourced from humanely raised sheep.
We only use Responsible Down Standard (RDS) Certified in our products, meaning that the down and feathers used for manufacturing, come from animals that have not been subjected to harm.
Even our probiotic odour control is made of naturally occurring microbes, much like those found in yoghurt or kombucha. Therefore, it is completely safe for the environment and people.
Which Footwear Designs Are Eco-Friendly?
The Intercept makes use of 50% recycled EVA foam in the insole.
Our Moab Flight has components that are made from recycled materials. 70% Of the upper mesh is recycled. 50% Of the mesh-lined removable PU insole is recycled. The Vibram EcoStep is 30% recycled rubber. Finally, the laces are 100% recycled.
The Moab 3 contains 100% recycled laces and webbing, as well as mesh lining which is also 100% recycled.
50% Of the EVA footbed is recycled in our Fly Strike , and the footbed cover is 100% recycled.
The Wildwood is one of our vegan-friendly products.
Our Bravada Edge trail running footwear design has several components that are made from recycled materials. The laces, webbing, mesh lining, and mesh-lined removable EVA insole are 100% recycled. The EVA foam midsole consists of 10% recycled materials.
Of course, as we work on new designs, and manufacture more products, we intend to continuously improve our sustainable practices. You too can join us on this journey of sustainability and eco-friendly practices, because as long as you are in a pair of Merrells, you are reminded of how important our earth is.
