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Reebok Announces Sneakers with a Corn-Based Sole

This morning, the Reebok Future team launched the NPC UK Cotton sneakers, the first product from their “Cotton + Corn” sustainable products initiative, which was announced last year. The Cotton + Corn program aims to produce footwear with “things that grow"instead of materials like petroleum and synthetic rubber. The NPC UK Cotton sneakers feature an upper made of 100% cotton, a corn-based sole, insoles that are derived from castor bean oil and 100% recycled packaging.

"Most athletic footwear is made using petroleum to create synthetic rubber and foam cushioning systems. With 20 billion pairs of shoes made every year, this is not a sustainable way of making footwear. At Reebok, we thought ‘what if we start with materials that grow, and use plants rather than oil-based materials?’ By using sustainable resources as our foundation, and then through ongoing testing and development, we were able to create a plant-based sneaker that performs and feels like any other shoe.

The NPC UK Cotton + Corn is the only footwear product on the market that has been certified as containing 75% USDA certified biobased content, and this is just the start for us. We are on an ongoing path to create a different type of footwear–so that you can feel good about what you’re wearing and where it came from.” —Bill McInnis, Head of Reebok Future

To develop the NPC UK Cotton + Corn soles, Reebok partnered with DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products who have developed Susterra® propanediol, a petroleum-free, non-toxic product that contains 100% USDA certified bio-based content, derived from field corn.

The NPC UK Cotton + Corn are retailing for $80 here: Reebok.com/CottonandCorn.