Trinseo | Footwear
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Footwear

Industry Overview

Customized Solutions for Fashion and Footwear

Trinseo's solutions for the fashion & footwear industry have a long and successful history, meeting the highest requirements for aesthetics, lightweight, durability, and, most importantly, sustainability.

Trinseo’s portfolio of products for the footwear industry grew with the acquisition of Applicazioni Plastiche Industriali S.p.A. (API) in July 2017. The Trinseo facility is based in northern Italy and has been a renowned partner for luxury footwear manufacturers, known for its groundbreaking solutions and innovative products in soft plastics.

Orange and white sole of an athletic shoe on a black background

One example is the first application of reticulated and expandable polymers, enabling the production of extremely lightweight items with excellent physical-mechanical properties that have been put to great use in sports footwear.

Our entire range of products benefits from our unparalleled expertise in color development. Trinseo has developed these capabilities by investing in technology and nurturing experienced specialists, allowing imagination to come to life in vivid tones or subtle nuances. These capabilities enable Trinseo to provide a high degree of color customization, whether by developing customized hues or through color matching.

Trinseo’s APICOLOR™ portfolio of color solutions were developed to supply customers with uniformly finished products meeting the requirements of the luxury fashion and footwear markets' narrow product development timelines. APICOLOR™ solutions apply to masterbatches as well as color compounds, meaning our customers benefit from both product consistency and manufacturing flexibility.

Consumers in the footwear markets expect more than comfortable, lightweight and ergonomic shoes that are durable and fashionable. They are also increasingly demanding sustainable products for all market segments. To meet the needs that drive the new global demand for environmentally friendly materials, Trinseo developed several sustainable materials, such as the APILON™ 52 BIO Bio-based TPUs. Our range of sustainable materials combine excellent physical-mechanical properties and aesthetics with the commitment that the protection of our environment is a fundamental value to be passed on to future generations. That is why we have also developed the APILON™ 52 A/C series, a range of TPUs whose properties make it a perfect replacement for vulcanized rubber while also enabling molders to obtain production efficiencies.

Trinseo provides a complete portfolio of TPE, TPU and bioplastics to footwear & fashion customers that require customized solutions and optimum performance. Every product in Trinseo’s portfolio of products for the footwear and fashion industry share the same core properties:

  • Aesthetics: Wide gloss range; colorability in all color shades; suitable for different graining
  • Lightweight and low density; lower weight compared to thermoset rubber
  • Durability: Excellent abrasion and aging resistance (UV, ozone, weather); good compression set and tensile strength enabling long-term dimensional stability
  • Processability: Shorter cycle times compared to rubber processing
  • Sustainable bio-based and/or biodegradable products available
  • Recyclability: According to the Association of Plastic Recyclers definition, which is based on OECD guideline and based on the data of LIFE16 ENV/ES00254 project of the European Union

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