Hankook Tire, YASE unveil shoes made of recycled tires

Hankook Tire & Technology Co., South Korea’s largest tire maker, said on Tuesday it is collaborating with local leather shoe brand YASE to unveil footwear made of recycled tires.

As part of the “Zero—Leave Nothing Behind” project that promotes sustainable growth and environmental protection, the two companies will jointly make shoes using rubber out of used tires.

Initially, five products – four dress shoes and one comfort insole – will be available through Musinsa, Korea’s top online fashion retailer.

The four dress shoes are Chelsea boots, square toe Chelsea boots, Derby shoes and square toe Derby shoes.

The tire maker said the shoe box, tags and related pamphlets are also made of eco-friendly sugarcane materials.

Hankook Tire said it will continue to work with YASE to additionally launch a running shoe lineup in October.

“Both tires and shoes share common traits of playing a crucial role in mobility and touching the ground on a daily basis,” Hankook said in a statement.

“It’s great to see our tires that have reached the end of their lives turning into outsoles of footwear to take people where they want to go with much comfort like they did on vehicles.”

In 2015, Hankook Tire worked with Vibram S.p.A., an Italian rubber outsole maker, to make manufacture eco-friendly concept tires and shoes.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.