This is so impressive.
Using a polymer yarn knitted on a machine and treated with heat, this fabric becomes flexible and supportive. Plus it is also fully recyclable. Unlike a regular sports shoes which takes over 50 years to break down in landfill.
The textile upper is then heat molded onto a fully recyclable sole which has been printed using a 3D printer.
Amazing work from Ammo Liao, Royal College of Arts Graduate 2015.
Through textile biomimicry, single material can provide multiple functions, simultaneously displaying soft, flexible and robust textures. Creating one product completely without composites will dramatically reduce the recycling cost of current multi-material products. This will dramatically reduce the recycling cost of current multi-material products. This multi-functional single material can efficiently boost our recycling industry without relying on a separation process. Its obvious benefits in the recycling cycle include: 1. conserving natural resources 2. enhancing the sustainability of landfill 3. saving energy and reducing greenhouse gases and the resulting pollution 4. reducing the cost of recycling processes 330 million pairs of shoes are sold in the UK every year. A pair of shoes take over 50 years to decompose in a landfill and has 65 discrete parts and 360 making processes. This is not only a waste of natural resources but also a recycling issue our society should be aware of. One pair of shoes have 65 discrete part and 360 making processes. It is not only to waste natural resource, but also to make controversial recycling issue into our society. Through textile biomimicry, a single material can provide multiple functions, simultaneously displaying soft, flexible and robust textures. Creating one product completely without composites will dramatically reduce the recycling cost of current multi-material products.