Key takeaways

• Due to a multitude of parts and construction methods, footwear is particularly challenging to recycle. Modular design offers simplification, enabling repair, reuse and circular recovery through component-based construction.
• Modularity is shifting from niche concept to serious circularity contender. WTiN explores how interchangeable, repairable footwear is gaining traction.
• Shoes are notoriously hard to recycle, but that’s beginning to change. From glue-free assembly to component take-back systems, discover the brands reengineering footwear for a circular future.

Linear models need a rethink
The footwear industry is at a crossroads. Each year, nearly 24 billion pairs of shoes are produced and almost 90% of them are eventually discarded in landfills or incinerated within a year of their purchase [1]. Complex in design and material makeup, most footwear is built to perform, but not to last, let alone to come apart and start again.

ircularity is transitioning from an aspirational sustainability goal to an operational and regulatory imperative. But in the shoe world, where products often combine more than 60 tightly integrated and glued-together components, achieving true circularity is proving nearly impossible.

Modular design is emerging as a tangible and systemic solution [2]. By enabling repair, upgrade or full disassembly into recyclable parts,