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Mira Groot from Rebel: understanding circularity in the Dutch footwear sector
In today’s interview, we spoke to Mira Groot, Circular Economy Consultant at Rebel, a strategy and advisory firm operating at the intersection of the public and private sectors. We focused on the “Steps towards a circular shoe chain” project to better grasp the issues and potential solutions involved in achieving circularity in the footwear industry
Mira Groot is a Circular Economy Consultant at Rebel, a strategy and advisory firm that operates across the public and private sectors, using economic analysis, data modelling and systems thinking to address complex transitions.
As part of the Circular Economy team, she has been examining the barriers to scaling up circular initiatives in the footwear industry alongside her colleagues Michiel Kort and Wouter de Waart.
“I have a background in industrial ecology. My work focuses on translating environmental impact data into strategic decisions: where in the value chain interventions are most effective, what actions follow from here and how policy can be designed to incentivise companies and consumers to act more sustainably”, she shares.
In the context of the footwear industry, this involves mapping material flows, impacts and financial dynamics from design and sourcing through to retail and end-of-life. The aim is to move from broad ambition to scalable solutions, by building on emerging collaborations, “like 95Percent, which gives footwear a second life, and FastFeetGrinded, which recycles shoes”.
Circularity Project
The project “Steps towards a circular shoe chain” was commissioned to shed light on the Dutch footwear system. According to Groot, “the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure initiated the study because, while the textile chain was relatively well understood, the additional complexity of footwear needed to be addressed: multiple materials, composite constructions, glued and stitched components and globalised production”.
The work was organised in three parts: 1) a full mapping of the Dutch value chain; 2) a detailed assessment of potential Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) targets; and 3) a closer look at shoe reuse backed by updated market data. Additionally, “we made a model to quantify the environmental impact across the full lifecycle. Typically, from production in Asia, through use in the Netherlands, to end-of-life, which may occur anywhere globally”, she highlights.
Using that system view, the report outlines measures across the chain, ranging from design choices such as repair-friendly construction and safer chemistry, to extending the lifespan during use and providing stronger incentives for reuse and recycling at disposal.
The report also considers the role of footwear within the wider context of European textile policy. “By June 2027, European Union countries will have translated the textile EPR legislation into national law, and from 2028 onwards, the EPR schemes must be operational”.
“In the first deep dive, we translated this into concrete EPR targets for collection, reuse and recycling. In the second”, she continues, “we assessed potential health effects of shoe reuse, integrated those findings into the targets and updated post-COVID market figures”.
Waste
“Our updated analysis shows that approximately 1-5% of newly produced shoes are destroyed before they are even worn, and around 15% are sold at a different price to that originally intended, for example, through outlets or discount channels”, Groot emphasizes.
Even if these rates appear modest, their scale becomes meaningful when multiplied by national consumption volumes. According to the Consultant, “for the Dutch consumers who buy approximately 70 million pairs per year, an estimated 6-30 kilotons of CO2-equivalent emissions are embedded in shoes that are destroyed before being worn”.
Rather than attributing the outcome to a single driver, the interviewee frames overproduction and discounting as structural features of the footwear business model. Long lead times and seasonal forecasting require decisions to be made far in advance, and flexibility is limited once production is underway.
Production Burden
The analysis also reinforces that most of a shoe’s environmental burden is during production, with materials contributing heavily to that footprint. “It is a crucial point: production is by far the most polluting phase of a shoe’s lifecycle, and most consumers are not aware of that”, Groot notes.
According to her, this creates tension for an industry built on selling volume, because the most direct way to reduce impact would be to produce fewer pairs, which is not viewed as commercially realistic. However, “the real leverage lies in maximising the value delivered per pair produced”, meaning the same functional need is met with fewer replacements over time.
“Our research shows that extending the lifespan of shoes is key: wearing one high-quality pair for two years has a significantly lower climate impact than buying two low-cost pairs worn for one year each”. This shifts the focus towards durability, maintenance and repair in categories where it is viable.
Solutions
“Material innovation plays an important role, particularly in terms of higher-quality inputs and recycled content. But it is not enough on its own”. Reducing the environmental impact of footwear at scale will require products to be designed to last longer and be easier to recycle at the end of their life, as well as being more transparent, with tools such as the European Digital Product Passport.
Although repair is highlighted as a potential way to reduce impact, many sports and leisure shoes remain difficult to fix. “As an athlete myself”, the interviewee shares, “I understand how strongly performance drives sport shoe design. However, most sports and leisure shoes today are optimised for performance and cost efficiency, and almost never incorporate repair or disassembly”.
As a result, product design is treated as a make-or-break condition for circularity, starting at the design stage rather than at the point of disposal. “This involves modular components, reversible connections instead of permanent adhesives, mono-material strategies where feasible, and access to spare parts such as replaceable soles”.
Additionally, the Consultant suggests that a differentiated approach may be needed across categories once baseline requirements for recyclability are met: “leather shoes can focus more on design for repairability and longevity, while sneakers should move towards higher standards for recyclability”.
“International policy harmonisation will be critical to implement these changes”, Groot notes. Although the EU is moving towards a broader package of measures, meaningful results will still require cooperation from major producing countries outside Europe, where much of the global footwear manufacturing is concentrated.
Future
Looking ahead, meaningful progress over the next decade hinges on three concrete changes. First, a measurable reduction in virgin material use without penalising longer-lasting products, with transparent footprint reporting playing a key role.
Second, “circular business models must move beyond pilots: on-demand production, repair services, resale platforms and take-back systems operating at scale”, she emphasizes.
The third shift concerns expanding shoe recycling. According to the Consultant, this change “depends on advances in technology and viable business cases, combined with design choices that make shoes easier to take apart and process effectively”.
Early signals to watch include the rollout of EPR schemes, digital product passports and right-to-repair rules, as well as investment in traceability and recycling infrastructure. “The initiatives exist — but embedding them into the core business model requires courage. In that sense, becoming circular is still a Rebellious act”.
More information on Rebel's “Steps towards a circular shoe chain” project can be found here. Rebel's website can be found here.
Image Credits: Art by Sofia Pádua
