Biodegradable athletic footwear

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Biodegradable athletic footwear is

The

at the end-of-life phase.

Biodegradable materials

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Natural biodegradable polymers are formed in nature during growth cycles of all organisms.^[4] When searching for natural fibers to replace synthetic materials in athletic shoes, the major natural biodegradable polymer that offers the most potential are polysaccharides. Starch is a polysaccharide that is useful because it readily degrades into harmless products when placed in contact with soil microorganisms.^[8]

Starch is not often used alone as a plastic material because of its brittle nature, but is commonly used as a biodegradation additive.^[4] Many plasticizers use starch-glycerol-water to modify starch's brittle nature.^[10] Biodegradation of this blend was tested and was found that by the second day the degraded carbon had already attained about 100% of the initial carbon of the sample.^[2]

Synthetic biodegradable polymer

Biodegradable blends

Most synthetic polymers are resistant to microbial attack because of their physical and chemical properties.^[9] However, they can become biodegradable when introducing natural polymers such as starch. Natural polymers introduce ester groups that attach to the backbone of non-biodegradable polymers, making them more susceptible to degradation.^[9] Due to biodegradable polymers having limited properties; blending synthetic polymers can bring economic advantages and superior properties.^[12]

End-of-life management

Although total elimination of post-consumer waste is not encouraged by any current change-causing agent due to the enormous change in infrastructure that the elimination of waste requires and the consequent lack of profitability for those agents, proactive approaches to reduce the enormous amount of waste that 350 million pairs of athletic shoes create can make a difference in the environment. Biodegradable materials, such as biodegradable polymers, are a viable solution to aid in avoiding the end-of-life athletic footwear waste consumption.^[13] The major advantage of introducing biodegradable polymers to athletic footwear is the ability to compost with other organic wastes for it to become useful soil attendant products.

An alternative short-term approach to

Recycling and composting are two major proposed solutions to end-of-life management. However, the use of biodegradable materials is a long-term solution that can significantly help protect the natural environment by replacing synthetic, non-biodegradable polymers found in athletic footwear. ^[citation needed]

See also

• Abandoned footwear
• Sustainable fashion

References