For runners, footwear is one of the most important – and often most expensive – pieces of gear. Experts say the typical lifespan of a traditional running sneaker falls between 310 to 435 miles, or about four to six months, depending on usage.
The shoe industry also comes at a great cost to the environment: from production to end-of-life, it generates about 700 million tons of carbon dioxide per year, according to research by Quantis, an environmental sustainability consultancy.
Footwear is notoriously hard to recycle because it can contain dozens of different materials that need to be processed separately. But Danny Pormes and his wife, Erna, decided to try and find a way to recycle shoes in their entirety.
"Everybody told us, 'it's not going to work, it's impossible,'" Pormes recalls. But after months of experimenting in their kitchen – which involved microwaving and boiling shoes, along with a few disasters – they finally came up with a proof of concept. From there, they partnered with a machine manufacturing company, Heilig Group, which helped bring their shoe recycling factory FastFeetGrinded to life.
Tap the link in bio for more.
📸 : CNN
Ocean governance reforms now carry direct consequences for sustainable construction and environmental sustainability in construction. The UN High Seas Treaty and proposed protections for the Antarctic Peninsula introduce stricter environmental impact assessments for offshore and coastal developments, signalling an era of detailed whole life carbon assessment in marine-related infrastructure. Developers of subsea cables, interconnectors, and CO₂ pipelines will contend with extended consenting processes and biodiversity restrictions that influence material selection, eco-friendly construction practices, and low carbon design decisions across multiple jurisdictions. The evolution of marine spatial planning aligns with circular economy in construction principles, recognising supply-chain carbon exposure as both a design and compliance issue.
Trade policy disruption poses further challenges to sustainable building design. Prospective tariffs on low-carbon materials—such as green building materials, steel, engineered timber, and heat-pump components—threaten project timelines and budgets. Anticipated responses include regional procurement strategies, adoption of sustainable material specification, and more rigorous evaluation of embodied carbon in materials and life cycle cost performance. Demands for verifiable environmental product declarations (EPDs) and building lifecycle performance metrics are expected to rise as clients seek transparency for carbon neutral construction targets.
Climate volatility is reshaping low-impact construction strategies, particularly in flood-prone and mountainous regions. Designers must adopt adaptive lifecycle assessment frameworks that prioritise redundancy, attenuation, and slope stability. These approaches support net zero whole life carbon goals and reduce the carbon footprint of construction, reinforcing resilience and resource efficiency in construction.
The policy debate on decarbonisation is shifting toward measurable outcomes. Governments are preparing performance-linked procurement and finance mechanisms that embed whole life carbon benchmarks into material supply chains. The accelerating move toward net zero carbon buildings, green construction, and BREEAM V7 standards signals the transition from intent to implementation. Markets for low embodied carbon materials and circular construction strategies are scaling at pace, defining a new baseline for sustainable building practices and comprehensive whole life carbon accountability across the global built environment.
Whole Life Carbon is a platform for the entire construction industry—both in the UK and internationally. We track the latest publications, debates, and events related to whole life guidance and sustainability. If you have any enquiries or opinions to share, please do
get in touch.
eco
WLC Assistant
Ask me about sustainability
Hi! I'm your Whole Life Carbon assistant. I can help you learn about sustainability, carbon assessment, and navigate our resources. How can I help you today?
