In the Czech Republic, a graduate student has teamed up with a filament company to produce a biobased, 3-D printed line of sandals.
“We are responsible for each of our steps. Shoes from the Organic collection are based on a simple principle: At the end of their life, you can divide both parts, the upper in a compost and the sole you can recycle, to use it again,” Lucie Trejtnarová, a postgraduate student at Tomas Bata University (Zlín) tells 3D Printing Industry.
The outsoles of the sandals use Malai coconut leather and Piñatex, a fabric made from pineapple waste. She worked with 3-D printing filament company Fillamentum to design the process.
The sandals are also recyclable, which is an emerging trend in the larger shoe industry. “Even Adidas is planning to produce a collection of shoes from thermoplastic polyurethane following the motto ‘made to be re-made’,” Trejtnarová adds.
The sandals are currently on display in London as part of the “Food Bigger than Plate” exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.