Far Eastern New Century Corporation pioneered the use of discarded PET bottles to create a soft and elastic shoe midsole, which has been put into commercial use to assist SALOMON in creating upstream shoes

        Through the efforts of its Far Eastern Group enterprise research center, Far Eastern New Century Corporation has used world leading technology to convert hard waste PET PET bottles into thermoplastic polyester elastomers (rTPEE), producing soft and elastic shoe midsoles. The first batch of successful commercial supplies was supplied to the modern sports lifestyle French brand SALOMON for the iconic high-performance upstream shoe model Solamphibian.

        The technical challenge of this project is how to convert hard PET into soft and elastic TPEE foam material, while maintaining sufficient melt strength to ensure durability, elasticity, and comfort. The final rTPEE material can be directly foamed into shoe midsoles and integrated into existing shoe manufacturing processes without the need for additional equipment or process changes.

        The world's first "PET bottle recycling and remanufacturing into shoe midsoles" technology, combined with Far Eastern New Century Corporation's expertise in polymer chemical recycling and polymer polymerization, has successfully developed a copolymer elastomer made from recycled PET as raw material, which is then used to produce elastic rTPEE shoe midsoles that meet shoe performance specifications. This is another practical achievement of Far Eastern New Century Corporation in environmental protection, sustainability, and recycling. It also demonstrates the company's research and development capabilities and determination for sustainability development, highlighting its global leading position in "using PET chemical recycling as Wuhan Far Eastern New Material" and creating the possibility of sustainable manufacturing of outdoor shoes. For details of this sustainable shoe design, please refer to: https://www.cyclonesmag.fr/article/salomon-collection-outdoor-printemps-ete-2025

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