Our Materials
We cannot think of our business as a success if it is built on extractive, destructive linear production models. Instead of take, make and dispose, we want (and need) a fully circular value chain. In practice, that means we can’t start patting ourselves on the back until every material we use comes from a sustainable source, and every product our customers are finished with is collected and moved on to its next life - either to continue as footwear, or to be composted or recycled.
We are nowhere close to achieving this yet - but we're on the way.
North Star Goals
Over our 10 years of business, Vivobarefoot has developed hundreds of different styles of footwear. Some have become iconic - the Tracker, the Primus - and have been with us for years. Each product is on its own unique development journey, but all of them are helping us inch ever-closer to our regenerative ambitions, aligned to the same North Star goals that guide all our product development work.
All Products Designed for Circularity
WHAT IT MEANS: Our ultimate footwear goal is to create products that can be repaired and reused, then composted or recycled - where possible using the recycled materials in new Vivobarefoot footwear.
WHERE WE’RE AT: At the moment, none of our styles are able to be fully recycled or composted. But we’re working with innovators and industry experts to understand how we do this by testing better materials and reducing the complexity of our footwear, without sacrificing durability.
Eliminate Use of Non-Regenerative Virgin Materials
WHAT IT MEANS: Eliminate virgin materials as far as possible, and, where we have to use virgin materials, only use those that give back more than they take away.
WHERE WE’RE AT: With circularity as the Big Ambition - we’re trying to move away from using virgin materials. Ultimately, we should in future be using materials from old Vivos to make new Vivos wherever possible. Where this may not possible for technical or performance reasons (especially with natural materials) we want to be using materials from certified regenerative sources.
100% Transparency Over Our Value Chain
WHAT IT MEANS: Work with all of our value chain partners to build trust, transparency and traceability (but first we need to know who they all are).
WHERE WE’RE AT: As is typical of so many industries, we don’t have visibility of our whole value chain. This isn’t an excuse – and we’re working hard to fix this. We’ve got 5 tiers of partners, from our finished product manufacturers (tier 1) all the way down to raw material (farm) level (tier 5). We’ve currently got 100% visibility over tier 1 and 2 partners, so the focus now is on tiers 3 to 5. We’re working collaboratively with partners and growing our team in Asia to do this. Everything we do know is published on our interactive value chain map, which will continue to be updated.
Ensure All Products Certified to Meet Best Practice Standards
WHAT IT MEANS: Obtain third party certification across relevant areas.
WHERE WE’RE AT: Whilst we’re focusing hard on the materials we use, we also need to focus on getting to best practice standards across the whole life cycle of our products. For example, we’d love to be able to get certifications across both environmental and social impact, like Cradle2Cradle or Fair Trade.
All Natural Materials Sourced from Regenerative Sources
WHAT IT MEANS: Only use natural materials, such as leather, wool and cotton, grown or raised on certified regenerative farms
WHERE WE’RE AT: We currently don’t use any regenerative materials in our footwear as the certifications are quite new and we need to increase the volume of natural materials we use first, but this is a huge aspiration for us. We’re still in the process of defining our current materials toolboxes to be the best they can be, and we’d love to focus on some of our highest volume natural materials in the future – for example getting certified regenerative natural rubber or Wild Hide leather
Use Bio-Based Materials Over Synthetics Where Possible
WHAT IT MEANS: Choose bio-based materials over virgin synthetics where we can. Bio-based materials are wholly or partly derived from biomass (such as plants, trees or animals) but excludes those derived from fossil sources. Examples of bio-based materials would include agricultural waste and algae.
WHERE WE’RE AT: We’ve used bio-based materials in our footwear before and still continue to use a little bit of algae in our Ultra style. The challenge is that a lot of bio-based materials are made into something very similar to plastic for use in footwear, which often can’t be recycled or composted. We’re working with innovators to create bio-based materials with an end-of-life solution, without compromising on durability.
Achieve True Regenerative Impact for All Products We Manufacture
WHAT IS MEANS: When we combine all of the above with other regenerative criteria (e.g the environmental and social impact across the life of our products), we’ll be much closer to achieving true regenerative impact for all products we manufacture.
WHERE WE’RE AT: We’ve got a long way to go! Knowledge is power, which is why our first step is to gain full visibility of where our materials come from, and the impact they have. We’ve started to understand this in detail for our highest volume styles, whilst developing exciting partnerships with innovators to explore cutting-edge materials and end-of-life solutions.
THE VMATRIX
The VMatrix is our in-house sustainability scoring tool for assessing the environmental impact of our footwear. Developed in partnership with Made2Flow, it measures key metrics like complexity, material type, durability, repairability, and future recyclability - giving one overall sustainability score for each style. Every year, we work to improve our average VMatrix score - with a focus on improving styles that fall below our benchmark of 50%.
Materials Transparency
V MATRIX SCORE: 47%
42% Synthetic rubber
17% Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)
16% Recycled Polyester (rPET)
8% PU (Polyurethane)
6% Polymer of unknown composition
5% Polyester
6% Other
VMATRIX SCORE: 49%
42% Synthetic rubber
10% PU (Polyurethane)
9% Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)
8% Material blend of unknown composition
7% Recycled PU (Polyurethane)
6% Spandex
6% Recycled Polyester (rPET)
5% Polyester
7% Other
VMATRIX SCORE: 45%
40% Synthetic rubber
31% Recycled Polyester (rPET)
6% Polyester
4% Conventional cotton
2% Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)
3% Other
VMATRIX SCORE: 50%
30% Wild Hide Leather (Thailand - Interhides)
15% Synthetic rubber
14% Conventional cotton
10% Recycled Polyester (rPET)
7% Additives of unknown composition
6% Polyester
5% Natural rubber
4% PU (Polyurethane)
9% Other
VMATRIX SCORE: 57%
32% Synthetic rubber
27% Conventional leather
9% Polyester
7% PU (Polyurethane)
6% Recycled Polyester (rPET)
5% Brass
4% Organic cotton
10% Other
VMATRIX SCORE: 57%
42% Chrome free leather (cow origin)
17% Natural rubber
16% Chrome free leather (sheep origin)
8% BIOREL P-08
6% Fillers of unknown composition
5% Polyester
3% Cork
3% Other
VMATRIX SCORE: 45%
25% Wild Hide Leather (Thailand - Interhides)
21% Polyester
20% Synthetic rubber
18% Recycled Polyester (rPET)
6% PU (Polyurethane)
5% Conventional cotton
5% Other
NATURE IS CIRCULAR. WE MUST BE TOO
We cannot think of our business as a success if it is built on extractive, destructive linear production models. Instead of take, make and dispose, we want (and need) a fully circular value chain. In practice, that means every material we use needs to come from a sustainable source, and every product our customers are finished with is collected and moved on to its next life - either to continue as footwear, or to be composted or recycled.
We are nowhere close to achieving this yet, but we've made a start.
We think about our materials in terms of two pillars:
1. Natural materials (like leather and cotton) - we call this SUPERNATURAL
2. Recycled and recyclable materials - we call this POLYCIRCULAR.
This new manufacturer uses plant fibres and other natural resources to create scalable, sustainable materials for fully circular production. The company makes Pliant (a 100% natural sole), Clarus (a 100% recycled cotton) and Mirum (a 100% natural alternative leather). We’re using these materials in our supernatural sneakers - made in Portugal and coming out in 2024 - and we’re looking to take something similar to our Asian supply chain.
Earthfoam creates a high-performance natural latex foam. The business built its own network of 323 small farms, each of which is certified organic. The rubber tree sap is collected and processed at EarthFoam’s living-wage factory in Sri Lanka. The foam is an environmentally friendly material that breaks down naturally in one year with the help of oxidising microorganisms.
Bananatex® was developed by the Swiss bag brand and material innovators QWSTION, in collaboration with a yarn specialist and a weaving partner based in Taiwan. Made from the Abaca Banana plant, this next-gen material adheres to Cradle2Cradle principles and biodegrades in both industrial composts and marine environments (EN 13432 and ISO 14851).
HyphaLite™ TC is a 100% biobased, biodegradable* and compostable* non-leather material made from certified natural latex, FSC-certified regenerated cellulose fibres and mushrooms.
*Test Method: EN 14855-1:2012 with reference to EN 13432:2000
Beyond Surface Technologies use micro algae, plant seed oil and plant waxes to create water based wicking finishes and repellents. These applications are ideal bio-carbon based alternatives to the fossil fuel derived chemicals traditionally used on textiles.
TômTex is created from two key ingredients: seashell waste and mushrooms. TômTex can be recycled by feeding it back into production, but it is also 100% biodegradable. We’re exploring how we use this in our footwear uppers.
Wool is a super-natural material with incredible heat regulation properties so your feet can move, breathe and perform with every step.
Our Merino wool comes from Australian Woolmark-certified farms, the global authority on safe, sustainable wool production. Woolmark work directly with sheep farmers to ensure adherence to Australia’s strict animal welfare legislation. We use wool that grows on sheep that roam free across the Australian landscape, supporting wool producers who use regenerative farming techniques that enhance biodiversity, soil health and fertility, and carbon sequestration.
We’re focused on creating an upper (everything from the sole up) from polyester. Polyester has one of the most advanced recycling value chains around - see the pop out about our partnership with Circ. We also favour polyester because it’s a flexible and highperforming material that we believe we can push to the next level. We’re already taking advantage of its strong, hightenacity and durable fibres. We’re currently experimenting with how to create a good padding foam as well as a ‘hot melt’, which removes the need for stitching.
We use synthetic rubber to make our outsoles in the Polycircular pillar. We want to use more recycled rubber in our shoes, and we’re partnering with a company called Recircle – a UK startup – to help us do that. We currently have 10% recycled rubber in our outsoles and are hoping to reach 30% initially and 50% in time. This is extremely challenging because the more recycled rubber we use, the lower the technical performance and durability. It’s also much harder for our manufacturing partners to work with in production. But, we keep evolving, testing and trialling! Ultimately, our goal is also to use end-of-life shoes from our customers or the repair centre as feedstock for the next generation of soles.
COMMITTED TO CHROME-FREE LEATHER
We use a few different types of leather to make our footwear, depending on the style and where it is made. Most of our leather is ‘Wild Hide’, which is a term we use to describe leather made from free-roaming cattle raised by independent smallholder farmers.
A QUICK HISTORY OF TANNING
A cattle’s hide must be tanned (a kind of treatment) before it can be used to make clothes or shoes. Historically, hides were treated using natural dyes and processing agents from trees, plants and flowers. However, one of the most common chemicals used nowadays is Chromium III. Without controlled manufacturing processes, Chromium III can turn into Chromium VI, which is toxic. Chrome-free leather is challenging to work with. It often decomposes faster than chrome-tanned hides, it takes up colour less easily, and the finish is often not something our customers are used to. There are solutions to all these challenges, but it takes time to get them working at scale.
WHERE WE’RE AT
We continue to work with all of our tanneries in each region to implement environmental and social best practice - sourcing Wild Hide leather from Interhides PLC in Thailand. In Portugal, we currently source conventional leather, this is something we’re working to find a better solution for.
WHERE WE’RE HEADING
Our big goal for this year is to ensure all the leather we source and use in our Asia value chain is made without the use of Chrome III. The next step after that is to use chrome-free leathers across our range. And one day (we hope), we’ll be able to tell you we only use vegetable-tanned leathers – just like our ancestors did.
RECYCLING
The goal with our synthetic styles (like the Primus Lite Knit) is to be able to make a new Vivo made entirely from an old Vivo – with no need to add any new materials. For this, we need to make sure that we make our footwear from materials that have recycling solutions – and not all recycling solutions are created equal.
Often used interchangeably with ‘recycling’ - ‘downcycling’ takes a product and processes it for reuse in lower-grade products that may require virgin materials to be added for durability. True recycling, for us, is about circularity. Creating something new from something old, without needing to add any virgin material.
Rubber outsoles can be mechanically recycled; where a machine grounds them into ‘crumb’ for use in lower-grade products, like rubber matting.
Polyester textiles - like synthetic footwear uppers - need to be chemically recycled. This involves a chemical process that breaks down the used polyester so that it can be built again into virgin-grade polyester for re-use.
This is why our primary focus with polyester styles at the moment is on creating a 100% polyester upper. Find out why this has been so challenging in our latest impact report.
WHERE WE’RE AT
We are partnered with fellow B Corp and chemical recycling innovator, Circ. This industry-leading collaboration is the first time a brand has worked directly with a recycling partner to design and develop a footwear upper from scratch to ensure it can be chemically recycled. Circ are currently running tests to help us work out which materials can successfully pass through their recycling process - and which can’t.