Didn’t know how to recycle your ski boots? With the “Recycle your boots” project, the Tecnica brand is embarking on a new economic model for the ski industry, that of the circular economy. This collection and recycling initiative is sponsored by the LIFE program (the European Environment and Climate Action Fund). It will be operational in eight European countries from this winter.

Recycle your ski boots to reduce the production of plastic waste

Plastic waste is a huge problem for our planet. The world’s largest waste site literally forms a seventh continent.

WHEN SKI BOOTS REACH THE END OF THEIR LIFECYCLE, THEY LAND IN LANDFILLS OR ARE BURNED IN WASTE-TO-ENERGY PLANTS

Tecnica, the international leader in ski boot manufacturing, is launching the “Recycle Your Boots” program this fall. This circular economy project aims to recycle the materials from the old ski boot as a basis for the new one, in order to save resources and reduce CO2 emissions.

“The concept is quite simple.” Explains Maurizio Priano, Marketing and Brand Manager at Blizzard-Tecnica. “Every skier who wants a new pair of Tecnica ski boots can now bring back his old ones, regardless of the brand of the latter.”

TECNICA WILL THUS RECYCLE THE OLD PAIR IN A TRANSPARENT AND SUSTAINABLE PROCESS

Recycling your ski boots: a process as innovative as it is complex

While the idea of ​​the Recycle Your Boots project may seem simple enough, it actually hides a process that is as innovative as it is complex. To successfully collect, transport and transform used plastic ski boots into reusable raw materials, Tecnica had to set up a sophisticated system combining craftsmanship and manufacturing expertise, with the support of university research institutes to oversee and measure the effectiveness of the project. However, the essential element of this project is the mobilization of the ski community, its dealers and consumers.
“Recycle Your Boots is more than a recycling project, it is a new economic model. » – assures Giorgio Grandin, in charge of innovation within the Tecnica group. “For the first time, we are not just talking about creating a product and selling it, we are putting in place a complete sustainable system that includes the production, transport, use of the product and its recycling. “

Mobilization of the whole chain of actors: the ski community, retailers and consumers

Used ski boots will therefore be collected by the dealers. They will be transported in large quantities grouped together in order to reduce emissions. The latter transport company will adopt specific measures for the accounting, neutralization and compensation of CO2 emissions for these cargoes.
Once arrived at their destination, the ski boots will be dismantled and the covers will be removed by the Italian company Fecam. It will separate the plastic components from the metal ones. All parts will then be transported to the nearby Laprima Plastics plant and transformed back into raw materials. These plastic or aluminum granules will be ready to be remelted and reused in industrial production. As for the coverings, they will be crushed to make new padding.
 
To ensure that this approach is virtuous, the University of Padua is a key partner in this project. Its role is to measure the ecological impact of eliminating ski boots and the resulting production, in order to reduce it as much as possible. Researchers are supervising the Recycle Yours Boots project to assess its benefits in terms of CO2 emissions in the short and long term.
The very promising potential of the “Recycle Your Boots” project has enabled it to be sponsored by the LIFE program. It is a European funding tool for environmental innovation projects intended to launch, extend or accelerate clean and sustainable production, distribution and consumption practices. From autumn 2021, the Recycle Your Boots project will be launched in eight countries: Italy, France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Spain, Norway and Sweden.

The goal for the first season is to collect at least 7,000 pairs of ski boots

To date, more than 150 points of sale have joined the program, but this number is set to increase according to Tecnica’s forecasts. The goal for the first season is to collect at least 7,000 pairs of ski boots. This program will be activated in other European countries and in North America.

“The primary goal of Recycle Your Boots is to launch a virtuous circular economy cycle in our branch” – continues Maurizio Priano, Marketing and Brand Manager – “But this project also aims to reactivate another positive cycle, that of the industry skiing which suffered last winter from the closure of ski lifts in many resorts in Europe. The pandemic has sparked a revival of environmental awareness, and with Recycle Your Boots, we’re confident we’re giving skiers a good reason to come back to sellers. ”

“Recycle Your Boots” is also set to influence how Tecnica designs its ski boots in the future. The innovation pole of the Tecnica group is already considering how to use recycled materials during the “Recycle Your Boots” process to manufacture new products and components for skis. On the other hand, the new ski boots will be designed in such a way as to facilitate their recycling.

WE ARE AT THE DAWN OF A NEW WAY OF CONCEIVING SKI BOOTS AND THEIR LIFE CYCLE.

– continues Giorgio Grandin, Head of Innovation – “Recycle Your Boots is not a definitive answer, not yet, but it is certainly a space for permanent innovation.”

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