The Recycling Shoe project contributes to addressing the environmental impacts of footwear waste through the development of an innovative European educational programme and supporting tools focused on footwear recycling and the development of circular economy competencies, while strengthening the link between academia and industry.
The project brings together nine partners from five European countries – Portugal (CTCP, Universidade de Aveiro), Germany (Pruef- und Forschungsinstitut Pirmasens e.V.), Romania (Universitatea Tehnică „Gheorghe Asachi” din Iaşi), the Czech Republic (Czech Footwear and Leather Association, Tomas Bata University in Zlín) and Poland (Sieć Badawcza Łukasiewicz – Instytut Technologii Eksploatacji, Ogólnopolska Izba Branży Skórzanej, Lodz University of Technology).
Within the project, ČOKA acts as a project partner and also as the leader of Work Package WP2, which focuses on developing an overview of sustainability requirements, mapping current recycling practices, and analysing the latest research findings.
The main project outputs include:
- a comprehensive overview of European regulations, research findings, and best practice examples related to footwear recycling, complemented by a strategic roadmap for the transition towards a circular economy in the footwear sector;
- a joint Master’s programme focused on footwear recycling, together with related educational content;
- tools supporting creative thinking in education, as well as methodological materials for teacher training.
The project will also support the establishment of an international network dedicated to advanced education in footwear recycling.
The Recycling Shoe project is co-funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ programme (KA220-HED) and runs from December 2025 to December 2028.
