ASK A SUSTAINABILITY EXPERT: HOW DO I RECYCLE MY WORN-OUT SHOES? –
“When you are generating this much product, most of it is sent back to landfill,” says Dr. Sahadat Hossain, the director of the Solid Waste Institute for Sustainability at the University of Texas at Arlington. Still, you’re right to resist the urge to toss shoes in the garbage. Once they’re kicking back in the dump, shoes can leach plasticizers, heavy metals and other toxic chemicals, says Hossain. They also take a literal eternity to break down. While natural materials decompose quickly (cotton takes about six months while leather requires 20 to 40 years), most of our shoes contain plastic-based components that last much, much longer.