Made in Portugal news - The Portuguese footwear sector will invest 600 million euros by 2030 for the development of eco-friendly shoes.
While Portugal is the third largest footwear producer in the EU, after Italy and Spain, the country is a pioneer in the field of eco-friendly green footwear. Indeed, the Portuguese footwear industry has developed a roadmap for a sustainable footwear industry with a low-environmental footprint.
The Portuguese Footwear Association, APICCAPS, will invest heavily in developing Green Shoes through a Pact that includes a number of goals including energy efficiency and product design. In 2023, the Portuguese footwear sector signed a Green Pact with around 150 companies that account for over 1 billion euros of exports. The Portuguese footwear industry is thus currently reinventing itself and is creating innovative products from green materials with the aim of taking decisive steps towards a carbon neutral planet.
What is Portugal's footwear industry?
The Portuguese footwear industry is comprised of 1,500 companies producing footwear, components, and leather articles, that are responsible for 40,000 jobs. The sector exports 90% of its production to 173 countries on five continents.
Is Portuguese footwear eco-friendly?
Portugal’s footwear industry, that produces 80 million pairs of shoes annually, will invest 600 million euros to develop eco-friendly shoes in order to "optimize processes and make the Portuguese industry become a major international reference in the development of new products", according to Paulo Gonçalves, the spokesperson of the Portuguese Footwear Industry Association, Components, Leather Articles and their Substitutes (APICCAPS).
Portugal’s sexiest industry is creating a new generation of products that includes biomaterials such as fruit peels, natural materials such as cork and wood, recycled materials, as well as products derived through the development of new technologies using leather, that is the current main raw material, in order to achieve sustainability.
Portugal’s investment in an eco-friendly footwear industry includes two major projects that are expected to be completed by the end of 2025, namely BioShoes4All and FAIST, that will focus on automation, digitalization, and sustainability. With a budget of 80 million euros, the BioShoes4All project will develop biomaterials and ecological footwear to promote a circular economy, through advanced production technologies that will develop 50 new products through a collaboration with universities and companies from different sectors and will also publish dozens of scientific articles. FAIST is a consortium of comprising 45 entities that will develop innovative technologies and sustainable materials in order to transform the Portuguese footwear and leather goods industry into the most modern one in the world.
Portugal’s footwear industry is investing heavily in its green future as it intends to be here to last, regardless of economic cycles. “The greatest proof of our confidence is that we are making the biggest investment in our history. We understand that Portugal can be a great international reference in terms of developing a sustainable industry, the industry of the future", stated the spokesperson of Portugal’s footwear association.
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