BASF to showcase sustainable footwear solutions at Simac 2021

BASF will showcase its solutions for the footwear industry at Simac 2021, including sustainable polyurethanes, TPU and E-TPU, 3D printing molds, functional coatings and comfort in sports shoes
.

According to BASF, future-proof footwear materials are unthinkable without sustainability
.
Sustainability is a company strategy and an integral part of all business decisions
.
As a result, the company annually invests around 2 billion euros in research and development and drives the development of new products that make a significant contribution to sustainable development
.
BASF says its circular economy approach to footwear includes three areas: reduce, recycle and rethink
.
At the show, BASF experts will delve into this approach and present sustainable material solutions for polyurethane systems and thermoplastic polyurethanes
.

BASF's main goal is to reduce the consumption of fossil resources and thus reduce CO2 emissions
.
BASF's Elastollan N (TPU) contributes to this because they are partly based on renewable raw materials such as sugar, corn or castor oil
.
These bio-based plastic solutions have high hardness properties and are suitable for all applications in the footwear industry
.

BASF said that in order to achieve the ultimate goal of a circular economy, we need to rethink the production and use of footwear
.
Italian designer Linda Lipari, together with designer Pierpaolo Righetto and students from Calzaturiero Politecnico (Institute of Footwear Design and Technology) in Padua, Italy, have created a creative interpretation of the "RE2.
0" sole design in a recent design competition
.
RE means "start over, rethink, recreate, reconquer the world"
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Students will present a unique combination of shoe design, performance and sustainability, which will be displayed at BASF's Simac booth
.

In addition, the company will showcase its coatings division's coating technologies for highly flexible substrates
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These solutions help protect and better color flexible surfaces
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BASF says they set new standards in design and personalisation and enable customers to optimise their processes
.
BASF achieves coating substrates with unique optical and haptic properties by combining coating formulations, textures and carrier materials
.
The coating protects against UV rays, scratches and dirt
.
BASF says it is available in a variety of colors and effects, and brings additional functionality to things like uppers and soles
.