The world’s first biodegradable shoe is here

Photo Credit: Blueview

A new biodegradable footwear brand has just been launched that incorporates plant-based plastics, instead of petroleum plastics, to make what’s being called the world’s first biodegradable shoe.

The Blueview Pacific sneaker is made with Soleic and PlantKnit biopolymers and – when they wear out – can biodegrade in compost, soil, and even the ocean.

Blueview is a Cardiff, Calif.-based startup founded by Stephen Mayfield, a molecular biology professor at the University of California San Diego, and the firm spent more than six years researching and developing Soleic, said to be the world’s first high-quality, renewable, and fully biodegradable polyurethane foam as the foundation of the Blueview shoe. The Soleic foam makes up the arch support, cupsole, and outsole of the shoe. Some other shoe brands use rubber, a natural material, for soles; but rubber is not easily degradable. “Sourced from plant-based oils, Soleic was designed at a molecular level to handle the strains and stresses of your everyday adventures before readily breaking down in compost, soil, and is starting to break down in sea water,” Blueview officials said.

To complete the Blueview Pacific shoe, the brand also developed PlantKnit, said to be the world’s first plant-based and fully biodegradable machine knitted shoe upper. Finally, each pair of sneakers contains a removable organic canvas cotton strap, which gives consumers the option to wear the shoes as a loafer or a slip-on. Ultimately, every single component of the plant-based shoes biodegrade under aerobic composting conditions (ASTM D5338), Blueview officials said.

The Blueview Pacific sneaker is available for pre-order for US$135 at blueviewfootwear.com.