A fully moulded football boot, made in a single step, is the latest innovation from Decathlon and its football brand Kipsta. Requiring no glue or material cut-offs, the Traxium Compressor has been produced in partnership with France-based converter Demgy.
Demgy
Mould firm derby: Has a Kipsta-Demgy partnership created a football boot for the circular economy?
Traxium Compressor
Football boots have long been subject to rigorous conditions at any level. The Traxium Compressor, however, has an at least ten-year lifespan and is fully recyclable thereafter. Kipsta, having announced that 80 per cent of its textile offerings in 2022 will be made through the eco-design principle, wanted to find a boot to suit the 21st century. The idea was to release an eco-designed, recyclable football boot that lasts a very long time in order to limit its environmental footprint as much as possible. Kipsta thus approached Demgy, experts in durable thermoplastic solutions for the aeronautics and automotive industries and, following three years of research, a few hundreds of thousands of euros of investment, and around fifty prototypes, the Traxium Compressor was born.
Demgy developed its ‘Net shape’ manufacturing process that enabled the Traxium Compressor to be produced in a single step, from two types of recyclable material: a polyester-based fibre ‘sock’ and a thermoplastic sole composed mainly of PU.
Traditionally, up to 70 materials can be used in a classic sports shoe to give them the comfort, flexibility and performance qualities required by the world’s athletes. The boot is completely finished as it leaves the mould. This one-piece production enables automated production without loss of material.
The ‘sock’ element can be detached from the sole and the then separate materials recycled through the appropriate streams, making the Traxium Compressor the first football boot of its kind on the market – a goal for the leisure industry that could really kick off the circular economy for sports.