Sporting goods recycling: new life for old ski boots
Many winter sports enthusiasts treat themselves to new ski boots at the start of the season. But what happens to the discarded predecessors? In two projects, funded until this year by the EU, the manufacturers Dalbello and Tecnica, together with their respective cooperation partners, explored the recycling possibilities for the solid equipment parts.
According to the European Union, around 3.5 million pairs of ski boots are produced worldwide every year. Their average lifespan is three years for rental boots and five for ski boots purchased privately. The boots, each weighing up to 2.5 kg, are then usually disposed of as waste. An estimated nine million kilograms of plastic waste end up in the world’s landfills or are incinerated every year. The materials used are thus lost to the raw material cycle.
Challenges for a material cycle
Each ski comprises more than 100 plastic parts, thermoplastic and foamed materials, adhesives, and metal components. In the past, attempts to install a recycling loop here failed due to the cost of dismantling and separating the materials. Practical solutions for sorting and recycling the liners, which consist of foam sandwiches, were previously lacking. In the last three or four years, however, two successful recycling paths have been developed and installed on the initiative of manufacturers.
The RESKIBOOT project was funded by the EU LIFE program from September 2020 to February 2024. The aim of the seven project partners was to rethink the life cycle of a ski boot in terms of sustainability and resource conservation. The focus of the take-back and recycling system was on ski rental. The combined effect of avoiding waste streams during production and the reduced use of new raw materials should also reduce the final cost of ski boots by at least seven percent.
The following overall concept was developed for the project:
- Rent and Go, a ski rental partner, provides used ski boots.
- In a first step, they are completely shredded and then sorted into fractions.
- The metals recovered from screws, snap-in hooks and buckles are used in recycling processes outside the LIFE RESKIBOOT project.
- The recycling company Plastic Sort S.R.L. prepares the shredded plastics, foams and soft materials for reprocessing. A process based on an electromagnetic effect is used to separate the materials and achieves an efficiency of 95 percent for polyurethane and foam components.
- At ski boot manufacturer Dalbello, the harder plastic parts are then finely ground and returned to the production cycle. At the same time, the previously sorted soft parts of the liners are ground, compacted into blocks, and processed into new liners at Grifone S.R.L.
As part of LIFE RESKIBOOT, 1,000 pairs of high-quality ski boots with a total of 70 percent recycled content were produced and returned to the slopes via the rental company. 90 percent of all polymer materials come from post-consumer recycling. Around 3.6 tons of waste and twelve tons of CO2 equivalent were avoided through recycling. The target of seven percent cost savings was also achieved.
According to Dalbello, the initiative has been continuously developed since the end of the funded project phase in the spring of this year in light of technological advances, new materials, and changes in legal requirements. However, the results of the project have been successfully integrated into series production: To date, over 30,000 pairs of ski boots have been manufactured with recycled polymers.
EU LIFE funding for the RecycleYourBoots collection and recycling initiative of the Italian ski boot manufacturer Tecnica started in September 2021. Here are the key aspects of the project:
- End customers can return their discarded pairs of alpine ski boots—irrespective of the manufacturer—to 1,500 participating stores in Germany, France, Italy, and Austria. The boots should not be older than the year 2000. The nearest drop-off point can be found at tecnicagroup.com/recycle-your-boots/. The Tecnica Group expanded the catchment area of the project with collection campaigns at sporting events and through cooperation with the ski rental company.
- Environmentally friendly vehicles transport the old ski boots to the evaluation center in Italy using optimized routes.
- The ski boots are tested on the basis of a strict selection process. If they are still fully functional, they are sold as used via the Cooperativa Sociale Insieme’s network of second-hand stores. All proceeds go to the non-profit organization Insieme for its projects for integrating people in need into the workplace.
- Ski boots that are no longer fit for use are dismantled, pre-sorted, separated, shredded, and washed. The liners, which consist of foams and fabrics, are used to create a secondary material that can be used together with new polyurethane in the sandwich construction of ski slope protection mats. The plastics are divided into polypropylene (PP) and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and then processed back into pellets. The TPU is used to produce components for Nordica and Blizzard skis and moon boots, while the metals are turned into new buckles and screws.
To date, RecycleYourBoots has collected and recycled around 24,000 pairs of ski boots in 13 countries. The use of secondary raw materials saved 350 tons of CO2 emissions. The project will also continue after the end of LIFE funding in August 2024.
Cross-industry session at IFAT Munich 2024
With the topics addressed by IFAT Munich, of sustainability, the circular economy and resource conservation, as well as climate and environmental protection, the environmental technology trade fair is connected to practically every sector of the economy and hence also to the respective industry trade fairs. Messe München launched the “Cross-Industry Sessions” in 2023 to promote an exchange of ideas. At IFAT Munich 2024, the information and discussion format took place under the heading “Sporting Goods and Hardgoods Recycling—Success Stories and Lessons Learned”. One focus was on ski boot recycling. The content of the cross-industry session thus established a link to ISPO Munich. The international leading trade fair for sports business will be held from December 3 to 5, 2024 at the Munich Exhibition Center.