Major apparel company Sanyo Shokai Ltd. is marketing a line of flip-flops from the Spanish brand Ecoalf made of recycled tire material.
To make this footwear, junk tires are ground into a fine powder and reprocessed using heat molding after impurities are removed. The company says they are highly durable, moderately heavy and easy to walk in.
The sandals come in 11 bright colors, including yellow and orange, and have been infused with a scent of vanilla essence. Men's and women's versions are available and all are priced at 4,950 yen.
In addition to personal use, the company expects that they will be attractive items to be given as gifts. They can be purchased from the Ecoalf section on the company's Sanyo iStore website and are available in stores Tokyo and elsewhere.
Ecoalf is a Spanish brand that focuses on environmentally friendly products. Because junk tires contain metals and other impurities, they are considered difficult to recycle. So they are often sent to landfills or end up being disposed of in the ocean.
Sanyo Shokai began handling the brand in Japan in March.
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