Innovation that reduced 50 tons of waste in one year wins Launches/FIMEC Award
Artecola has developed a recycled heel counter that has brought competitive advantages to the safety footwear segment and transformed part of its production. The company renews its commitment to sustainability at the fair.
Reverse logistics, biomaterials and circular economy. All these concepts are united in the AFIX Artedur ECO buttress, an innovation that has promoted a major transformation in the safety footwear sector. The structuring product, developed by Artecola Química especially for this segment, is recycled and recyclable, uses waste from other industries as raw material, accepts biomass in its composition and has its waste fully reused in the production of new batches – which represented the end of the disposal of around 50 tons in 2024 alone. All these characteristics were recognized with the Launches/FIMEC 2025 Award in the Sustainability category. The award was presented on the first day of the fair.
In addition to its sustainable advantages, the new Artedur ECO heel counter offers high performance, ensuring a better shape for the footwear and greater comfort for the user. The combination of sustainability, economy and performance led the safety footwear sector to migrate to the new material after decades of using impregnated heels – which are not recyclable and lose their structural function in about 45 days. The change eliminated the leftover cuts from impregnated heels, which were obligatorily sent to controlled landfills. With Artedur ECO, all leftover cuts are reused, which represented about 50 tons reused in 2024. The calculation takes into account the market share gained by Artecola with the product, which reached more than 60% of the sector’s production of 41 million pairs/year (Abicalçados/2023).
The CEO of Artecola Química, Eduardo Kunst, highlights that Artedur ECO is a perfect example of the innovation and sustainability worked on by the company.
“We are committed to leading sustainable change in the sectors in which we operate, developing products that enable this transformation. The new buttress has enabled almost the entire segment to migrate to a material that is much superior in terms of performance, and also has incomparable advantages when it comes to ESG. We have gained in the Environmental, Social and Governance aspects”, highlights the businessman.
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