Sportswear brand On have released Cloud X 5 shoes that have a midsole made of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) foam created from e-naphtha, a key ingredient created from industrial carbon emissions.
EVA is traditionally derived from crude oil processing, which comes with a large carbon footprint. For the new EVA, On partnered with Infinium Energy and Borouge International: Infinium converts captured CO2 emissions into liquid e-naphtha, and Borouge International transforms the e-naphtha into e-EVA pellets, used to make EVA foam.
A study commissioned by On found that this method produced 80% lower carbon emissions compared to conventional manufacturing pathways.
Jean-Philippe Romain, Director of Polymer Science & Engineering, On, stated: “I remember my very first 1-on-1 with my manager when he handed me this project. To be completely honest, at first, I thought it was a crazy, silly idea. This initiative came purely from a raw innovation mindset: Can we take a resource that is abundant in the atmosphere and do something positive with it? Can we make the problem part of the solution? We didn’t have a massive business case – we just had a few slides, immense enthusiasm, and a big dream. But, by rethinking how a supply chain can collaborate, we scaled to over a million pairs today. The speed at which we went from a single wild prototype to commercial-scale production is incredibly fast for the chemical and footwear industries.”
On Launches Cloud X 5 Shoes Made With e-Naphtha
