Promoting Closed-Loop Recycling of Shoe Manufacturing Process Residues

Lealea has developed a recycling technology for recycling textile waste and discarded clothing into yarn, and has cooperated with shoe material suppliers to recycle scraps into new shoe material cloth, thus reducing reliance on petrochemical raw materials and reducing carbon emissions.

To solve the problem of scrap waste and discarded clothing in each production phase of the textile industry chain, Lealea uses newly developed recycling process technology to recycle these materials, previously downgraded or treated as waste, into yarn.

Cross-industry cooperation enables waste reduction in the shoe material industry

Lealea has cooperated with downstream shoe material suppliers to recycle the scraps from shoemaking into new shoe material cloth. This approach not only reduces the textile and footwear industry’s dependence on petrochemical raw materials and mitigates issues of waste, but also helps the supply chain significantly reduce carbon emissions.

Recycling PET bottles into dyed yarn

Besides, as the first textile company in Taiwan to obtain Global Recycling Standard (GRS) certification, Lealea’s recycled PET bottle dope dyed yarn (ReEcoya) is widely used by major brands around the world, even enabling the company to become Taiwan’s first supplier of dyed yarn to Apple Inc.

Benefits

  • To achieve this, Lealea has invested a total of more than NT$150 million in recycling and remanufacturing processing. All equipment required is sourced from domestic manufacturers, creating 25 job opportunities.
  • Currently, Lealea’s monthly recycling capacity is 1,250 tons, which results in an annual reduction of 43,342 tons of CO2 emissions compared to using raw materials.