Old Tyres to Tread in Timberland Shoes

When they’ve finished doing service on your car, that set of old tyres removed by the local garage or fast fit can now potentially return and see further life on your feet. Footwear manufacturer Timberland has teamed up with Green Rubber to launch two new collections featuring outsoles made using recycled rubber from discarded tyres. These outsoles will contain a 50/50 blend of Green Rubber compound and virgin rubber compound, the blend of the two materials necessary in order to maintain the durability and performance characteristics Timberland footwear is known for.

“We are facing an unpublicised epidemic with 1.3 billion tyres being disposed in landfills every year leading to water pollution and breeding grounds for disease-carrying insects,” said Datuk Vinod Sekhar, Green Rubber CEO and founder. “With Green Rubber’s patented and environmentally friendly technology we can start to make a real dent in the mountains of tyres creating an environmental blight on the planet.”

Timberland is the first footwear manufacturer to commercialise Green Rubber technology, and is incorporating it into two of the company’s autumn 2009 collections. “We are thrilled to partner with Green Rubber to support this innovative company’s efforts towards making rubber a more sustainable resource with a lighter environmental footprint,” said Jeff Swartz, CEO, the Timberland Company. “Green Rubber is positioned to have a major impact on the global rubber industry; managing tyre waste can now become both a commercially viable and environmentally friendly process.

“This partnership brings together two like-minded organisations with a common goal of connecting successful commerce to environmental responsibility,” Swartz added. “This is a great opportunity for Timberland to share its commitment to “Earthkeeping” – offering products with a lighter footprint while inspiring a movement of one million Earthkeepers interested in environmental behaviour change.”

A recent study by environmental engineering firm Malcolm Pirnie Inc. showed that using five kilograms of recycled rubber instead of virgin rubber prevents approximately the same amount of CO2 being released into the atmosphere. In addition, the consumption of oil falls by four litres. By 2012, Green Rubber intends use its de-vulcanisation process to recycle the equivalent of more than 200 million discarded tyres every year. The company is about to launch an expansion programme as it looks to open new manufacturing plants for its rubber compound in the Americas, the Middle East, Asia and Europe.