Balena Promises 100-Percent Biodegradable Footwear

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Balena Steps Out with 100-Percent Biodegradable Footwear

A material science company, Balena, which is aiming to transform the fashion industry, announced the debut of its eco-chic BioCir Slides. These sliders are made by using Balena’s proprietary- 100-percent biodegradable plastic. Biodegradable plastic is developed to put an end to unsustainable amounts of plastic waste. This will help the fashion industry kickstart biodegradable plastic use in footwear and other clothing.  

A Step Towards a Greener Footwear Fashion 

Balena’s BioCir™ , a fully moldable, biodegradable elastomer is a viable alternative to the polluting plastic materials currently used by fashion brands for clothing and footwear. 

This unique technology has exciting potential and to demonstrate that Balena has introduced fully compostable slides. These slides are designed and manufactured in Italy and are made of BioCir entirely. The first thousand pairs are dropped in the company’s hometown, Tel Aviv.  

The BioCir Slides are colored and scented using natural cinnamon. They are already being worn by fashion influencers and are promoting comfort throughout the city. They are all set to put their feet first towards a greener future.

Balena has also introduced a fully circular system BioCycling™. It facilitates the disposal and complete biodegradation of the BioCir slides in an industrial compost environment.  

Once a customer finishes using the slides, they can return them to the designated take-back spots throughout the city, instead of tossing them into the garbage on their way to a landfill. They are then taken for a full biodegradation at a local industrial compost facility. Through this model, Balena aims to reduce fashion’s contribution to plastic waste. 

 BioCycling
Balena’s BioCycling Circular System

Because of the world’s addiction to fast fashion, the amount of waste generated each year in staggering volumes of clothing and footwear is an estimated 92 million tons worldwide annually.  

Balena is on a mission to change this by creating a fully circular model that relies on the power of composting to lower fashion’s footprint on the environment. 

More About BioCir

Balena’s proprietary BioCir 100-percent compostable plastic is durable, flexible, soft, and smooth. This makes it the perfect alternative to current polluting shoe materials and also allows brands to develop footwear identical in look and feel to their current products. The biodegradable material can be treated like any other and used in regular injection molding processes as well as 3D printing, with the limitless manufacturing opportunities that these afford. It can be integrated into regular manufacturing processes with ease and replicated at scale globally, reducing a significant barrier to entry for manufacturers.  

“The global fashion industry is one of the world’s biggest polluters. At Balena, our goal is to help turn this around,” said David Roubach, founder and CEO of Balena. 

“We’re doing this by creating our own viable biodegradable plastic alternatives and fully circular systems that can be easily scaled, and copied and pasted across the globe. We hope our BioCir footwear shows the world that there is a real alternative: Fashion can be fabulous, functional and Earth-friendly. We’re proud to be the company opening the door for any fashion brand to start stepping into a more circular future.” 

Also read, Fast Fashion Induced Climate Crisis Looming Large – Can recycling Really Undo the Damage?