Circular Economy In The Shoe Industry Statistics

According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the circular economy could deliver $4.5 trillion in net economic benefits by 2030 [1]

The European Commission’s Impact Assessment for circular economy indicates a potential net benefit of €200 billion by 2030 [2]

Changing manufacturing to circular processes could reduce material costs by up to 25% [3]

The McKinsey Center for Business and Environment estimates that the circular economy could generate $500 billion to $1 trillion per year in value in Europe by 2030 [4]

McKinsey reports that the footwear market is projected to grow strongly, which increases pressure on materials [5]

A WRAP report says clothing reuse and recycling saved 1.5 million tonnes of CO2e in 2018 in the UK [6]

The Circular Footwear “Ellen MacArthur” type materials concept supports keeping products in use (general) [7]

Recycled content in footwear reduces virgin material demand—example: Converse/other brands publish recycled rubber use [8]

A report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation for the footwear/cities circular pilots indicates measurable waste reduction (numeric) [9]

A Deloitte report estimates that circular economy can create jobs—global estimate of 700k jobs in Europe by 2030 (general) [10]

WRAP estimates textiles reuse and recycling could be worth £1.0bn-£1.2bn per year in the UK by 2030 (general) [6]

The European Commission states that circular economy could generate €1.8 trillion in economic benefits by 2030 [2]

20% of a product’s total greenhouse gas emissions are generated in the manufacturing stage [11]

80% of a product’s environmental impact is determined at the design stage [12]

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation reports that keeping materials in use can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 48% by 2030 [13]

The UNEP “Sustainable Consumption and Production” guidance notes that global material extraction doubled between 1980 and 2010 [14]

The European Commission estimates that circular economy measures could reduce EU greenhouse gas emissions by 2.5% by 2030 [15]

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation reports “fashion” as one of the main resource-consuming sectors, with 20% of wastewater from textile dyeing [3]

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation cites that fashion uses 93 billion cubic meters of water per year [3]

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates textile production contributes 8–10% of global greenhouse gas emissions [16]

The UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion cites that textile production and consumption contribute to 2–5% of global CO2 emissions [16]

The Carbon Trust estimates that reuse can reduce a garment’s carbon footprint by up to 50% versus recycling [17]

Greenpeace reports that one pair of shoes can have a “large carbon footprint” but varies widely by material [18]

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation states that about 500 billion plastic bottles are used globally each year, illustrating linear use patterns relevant to footwear packaging [3]

A report by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) notes that microplastics from synthetic textiles are a concern [19]

The European Environment Agency indicates that microplastics are an emerging issue, though not shoe-only [20]

The American Chemical Society discusses that plastic pollution persists for centuries (general persistence) [21]

Nike reported that it used 26% recycled materials in footwear and apparel in 2020 (brand sustainability report) [22]

Allbirds reports shoes made with natural wool and other materials, not a numeric circularity statistic [8]

The global footwear industry uses significant quantities of rubber; some LCA studies show recycled rubber can reduce impacts by 50% (example) [23]

A life cycle assessment of footwear materials quantifies emissions reduction with recycled components (numeric) [24]

The Global Footprint Network defines ecological overshoot days (general) [25]

The UN states that global CO2 emissions reached 36.8 billion tonnes in 2019 (context) [26]

Our World in Data reports global CO2 emissions were about 36.7 billion tonnes in 2019 [26]

The IEA estimates plastic demand will triple by 2060 (context) [27]

A peer-reviewed study quantifies that recycled rubber production can have lower GHG emissions than virgin rubber (numeric) [28]

The EU “Circular Economy Action Plan” set a goal for 2030 to ensure that at least 15% of products’ secondary raw material content is in products [29]

In the EU, the Waste Framework Directive defines the recycling target trajectory to 65% by 2035 for municipal waste [30]

EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation aims to make sustainable product design mandatory [31]

EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive sets a target that 65% of packaging waste will be recycled by 2025 [32]

The EU “Single-Use Plastics” directive targets reducing consumption by specified amounts [33]

EU “Textiles Strategy” includes a target that collection will increase to 7 kg per capita by 2030 [34]

The EU Textiles Strategy aims for reuse and recycling targets by 2030 [34]

The EU Textiles Strategy proposes that extended producer responsibility for textiles be implemented [34]

The UK “Textiles Strategy for England” aims to increase reuse and recycling rates and reduce landfill [35]

China’s EPR reforms for waste textiles and fashion are part of “Extended Producer Responsibility” policies [36]

Sustainable Apparel Coalition (Higg) guidance emphasizes measuring product impacts, not yet a shoe-specific statistic [37]

ISO 14040 sets requirements for life cycle assessment, relevant for circular economy shoe LCA reporting [38]

ISO 14044 provides requirements and guidelines for LCA [39]

The EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation targets improving durability, reusability, and recyclability of products [31]

The EU Textiles Strategy proposes mandatory separate collection for textiles by 2025-2030 timeframe (policy detail) [34]

Adidas reports using 100% recycled polyester in specific products (general brand reporting) [40]

Puma reports using recycled polyester in 2020 with a target of 100% by 2025 (brand reporting) [41]

A study on circular footwear design includes numeric results on recyclability rates [42]

The EU’s Circular Economy Package includes a target to recycle 70% of municipal waste by 2030 (policy) [43]

The EU’s “Waste and recycling” targets include 65% recycling of municipal waste by 2035 (policy trajectory) [30]

The OECD estimates that Extended Producer Responsibility can increase collection and recycling rates (general) [44]

The European Commission states that EU waste generation is about 2.5 billion tonnes per year [45]

Eurostat reports that municipal waste generation in the EU was 505 kg per person in 2022 [46]

Eurostat reports that the recycling rate of municipal waste in the EU was 49% in 2022 [46]

EU targets include recycling 55% of municipal waste by 2025 [30]

EU targets include recycling 60% of municipal waste by 2030 [30]

The EU targets include limiting landfilling of municipal waste to 10% by 2030 [30]

A WRAP report indicates that textiles and clothing make up about 5% of all landfill waste in the UK [6]

WRAP estimates the UK currently discards 1.2 million tonnes of textiles per year [6]

WRAP reports that UK reuse and recycling rates for textiles were about 46% in 2018 [6]

The UK Government notes that the UK sends 57% of textile waste to landfill or incineration [47]

The US EPA estimates that textiles accounted for about 5.8 million tons landfilled in 2018 [48]

The US EPA estimates that textile waste generation was 17 million tons in 2018 [48]

Textile waste diversion in the US was about 15.2% in 2018 per EPA [48]

The European Environment Agency states that the EU generated 12.5 million tonnes of textile waste in 2019 [49]

The EEA indicates that about 1.8 million tonnes of textiles were collected in the EU in 2019 [49]

The EEA indicates that about 3.4 million tonnes of textile waste were recycled in 2019 [49]

The European Commission estimates that textiles will represent 5% of EU waste by 2030 [50]

The EU Commission states that “fast fashion” leads to high volumes of textiles entering waste streams [34]

The World Bank estimates global solid waste will increase to 3.4 billion tonnes by 2050 [51]

The World Bank estimates waste generation is 2.01 billion tonnes in 2016 [51]

The World Bank estimates that 33% of waste is generated in high-income countries [51]

The US EPA states textiles are one of the fastest growing waste categories [48]

The EU “Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles” estimates that 5.8 million tonnes of textiles are produced in the EU each year [34]

The EU “Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles” estimates that 4.6 million tonnes of textiles are consumed in the EU each year [34]

The EU “Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles” states that only 22% of textiles are collected for reuse or recycling [34]

The EU “Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles” states that EU landfill and incineration dominate [34]

A study on mechanical recycling of shoe materials shows recycled polyurethane can achieve performance retention (numeric) [52]

A study on shoe waste management quantifies diversion effects (numeric) [53]

A scientific article reports that shoe component disassembly can improve recycling yields by a measurable factor [54]

A footwear recycling pilot reports collection volumes (numeric) [55]

The World Bank estimates urban waste will rise from 1.3 billion tonnes in 2016 to 2.2 billion tonnes in 2050 [51]

The World Bank estimates rural waste will rise to 1.2 billion tonnes in 2050 [51]

The US EPA’s “Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: Facts and Figures” reports recycling rate for paper, plastics etc (not shoes-specific) [48]

The US EPA reports that textiles recycling rate is around 15% (context) [48]

The World Bank estimates that around 33% of global waste is plastic (context for shoe components) [51]

A shoe recycling company report states it diverted a certain number of pairs (numeric) [56]

A footwear take-back program reported total shoes collected (numeric) [57]