US FDRA launches guide on sustainable materials benchmarks, targets

The Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA) recently launched the new shoe sustainability guide to tackle an essential area of shoe manufacturing—environmentally-preferred materials (EPMs). It offers industry leaders with benchmarks and goals to aid their efforts to reduce their companies’ environmental impacts, FDRA said in a release.

The trade association worked with sourcing and sustainability experts at companies including Caleres, Allbirds, Nike and Material Exchange to develop the guide.

The guide is intended to be a reference for the industry and “help end the decision and strategy paralysis some shoe companies have around sustainability and get them moving in a positive direction,” Andy Polk, senior vice president at FDRA, said.

The Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA) recently launched the new shoe sustainability guide to tackle an essential area of shoe manufacturing—environmentally-preferred materials (EPMs). It offers industry leaders with benchmarks and goals to aid their efforts to reduce their companies’ environmental impacts, FDRA said in a release.

“As more and more brands adopt and use the guide, a real ROI will come as more sustainable material development costs reduce and we get better, more value-add materials in footwear for consumers,” said Polk. “This is just the start to the work we are doing to bring companies together to increase impact.”

By working together toward sustainability targets, shoe companies can benefit from lower costs and increased impacts, the press release said.

FDRA will update the guide to reflect materials innovations, life cycle assessments and progress throughout the industry. It also encourages companies to evaluate their efforts so far against the current benchmarks and act quickly to push their materials beyond them.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)