In the Netherlands, footwear company Mercer Amsterdam has announced it will launch a sneaker made from wine waste, recycled polyethylene terephthalate, and algae-based ethylene vinyl acetate.
Dubbed W3RD Wine Pack, Mercer Amsterdam partnered with Vegea for the wine waste material. The company says the soft vegan leather is made from the waste skins, stalks, and seeds of the winemaking industry.
“For me, it is important for us to try and change the high-end sneaker industry—it doesn’t need to be all-leather all the time,” Mercer Amsterdam founder Pim Mercer tells Plant Based News. “The best experience for me is when someone says ‘I love this sneaker’ without knowing the backstory. This goes to show that sustainable, vegan, and plant-based footwear can be as nice and luxurious as real leather—and that is a game-changer in a mostly all-leather and plastic industry.”
The sneakers will be available in December.