Milan, Italy, Sept. 9, 2025 (Lusa) - Waste such as olive stones, orange peel and vine prunings, which are considered rubbish, will be given a new lease of life with the BioShoes4All project, which will incorporate them into Portuguese shoes, in an investment of €60 million.
This project, which involves 50 companies, as well as 20 organisations from the scientific and technological system, came about with the aim of giving a new impetus to the transition of the Portuguese footwear cluster to an economy based on renewable resources, with a push from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
"The aim was to identify agri-food, agri-industrial and agri-forestry by-products, which Portugal has in large quantities and which were not valued. For example, pine bark, ground coffee powder or vine leaves and prunings," Maria José Ferreira, who is responsible for the project, explained to Lusa.
"Chemical ingredients" are extracted from these by-products, which are then used to transform the skins.
Olive stones, chestnut skins, rice husks, tomato or orange peel remains can be given a new life in insoles, ensuring that the product is not only sustainable but also resistant.
Maria José Ferreira wants these solutions to please the consumer visually, but also to inform them that they are buying shoes "that are also good for them", from a comfort point of view, but also biomechanically.
To this end, scientific analyses are carried out to certify that the product is “bio”.
This project wants to reach adults, but also children, as well as having more technical or senior-friendly options.
Another aspect in which BioShoes4All is taking "the first steps" is in ensuring that footwear can also be recycled and included in the circular economy.
"It will take more work and complementary projects. Footwear is a very complex product, with many materials, and we can't jeopardise its durability and resistance. We can't have shoes that fall apart easily," she warned.
As she pointed out, consumers have been very interested in these solutions, and the project has made contacts with potential European and non-European customers at the MICAM footwear fair, which closes today in Milan, Italy, and where the results of BioShoes4All were presented.
In the future, the project also wants to include by-products from the sea in its footwear, and is already in contact with various organisations that can help in this regard.
The project has been funded to the tune of €40 million, out of a total investment of €60 million.
According to figures provided by APICCAPS - the Portuguese Footwear, Components, Leather Goods and Related Products Industry Association, in the first half of 2025, Portuguese footwear exports increased by 3.7% in value to €843 million.
Between January and June, 36 million pairs were exported, an increase of 5.4%.
In 2024, exports from the footwear cluster totalled €2.147 billion.
Last year, Portugal produced 80 million pairs of shoes, of which 68 million pairs were exported, worth €1.724 billion.
During this period, Portuguese footwear was commercialised in more than 170 countries with Belize being the most recent destination.
The Strategic Plan for the Footwear Cluster foresees an investment of €600 million by 2030.
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Lusa
