How GreenSole Recycles Shoes: The Step-by-Step Process Explained

GreenSole recycles discarded shoes through a six-stage process: collection, washing and sanitisation, disassembly, sole resizing and die-cutting, assembly into new footwear, and granule production from the residual waste. Every part of the shoe is used up: uppers become straps, laces go into packaging, and the leftover 15% of material that cannot be upcycled is ground into TPR, TPU, and PVC granules sold to the automotive and furniture industries. Here is what happens at each stage, from the moment your old pair leaves your doorstep to the day a child in rural India puts it on.

Why Shoe Recycling Demands a Purpose-Built Process

Manufacturing a single pair of shoes involves assembling up to 65 discrete parts across 360 steps, generating around 30 lbs of CO₂ emissions, the equivalent of running a 100-watt bulb for a week. That complexity does not disappear when a shoe is discarded. Different zones of the same shoe use different materials: TPR or TPU rubber for the outsole, EVA foam for the midsole, synthetic mesh or canvas for the upper. Separating and repurposing each zone require different techniques.

When co-founders Shriyans Bhandari and Ramesh Dhami started GreenSole in 2015, there was no established recycling framework for footwear in India. "We had to figure out the process of recycling because there were not many players," Bhandari told Mongabay-India. "All research on breaking down different parts of the shoes and which parts to use for recycling was done in-house." That in-house R&D shaped every stage of the process still used today.

What Shoes GreenSole Accepts — and What It Does Not

Not every discarded shoe enters the recycling line. GreenSole accepts most adult footwear but excludes two categories that cannot be processed efficiently.

Shoes in any condition are welcome — the sole does not need to be pristine, only present.

Stage 1 — Collection

GreenSole gathers shoes through four main channels. Corporate collection drives are the largest volume source: more than 100 corporate partners, including Tata Group, Adidas, Axis Bank, Skechers, H&M, and Metro, organise internal drives and ship the collected pairs to GreenSole's unit. Brand dead-stock from footwear labels that cannot sell surplus inventory is another significant stream.

Individuals can donate by dropping off shoes at collection centres across the country or shipping directly to the primary manufacturing unit in Navi Mumbai. A secondary unit in Delhi handles the northern India volume: schools, colleges, and public drop-boxes installed in parks round out the network.

Since 2015, this network has produced over 1.2 million pairs of upcycled footwear, distributed to children across 20 states.

Stage 2 — Washing and Sanitisation

Every incoming pair goes through a thorough wash before any disassembly begins. The process is intentionally manual, with no industrial solvents or heat-intensive cleaning equipment, which keeps the carbon footprint of the recycling step itself close to zero.

Shoelaces are removed at this stage, washed separately, sanitised by hand, and set aside. They are not discarded. As the process continues, they re-enter the product chain.

Stage 3 — Disassembly: Separating Uppers from Lowers

Once clean, each shoe is broken down into its two functional zones: the upper (the fabric, mesh, or synthetic leather body) and the lower (the rubber or foam sole unit).

The upper is not waste. It is cut into straps that form part of the refurbished slipper. The salvaged shoelaces from Stage 2 are used in shoe packaging rather than being replaced with new material. This is what the One Planet Network's case study on GreenSole describes as the defining feature of the model: even components that appear to be offcuts are fed back into the product.

The disassembly is done by hand. This keeps employment at the centre of the model — GreenSole runs skill centres, including one at Tata Steel in Jharkhand, that train workers, particularly women in rural areas, in these manual techniques.

Stage 4 — Sole Resizing and Die-Cutting

The lower unit is now the primary raw material. A die-cutting press stamps it into the exact shape and size of the sole needed for a new slipper. GreenSole works primarily with three sole materials: TPR (thermoplastic rubber), TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane), and PVC, the three most common compounds in sports shoes' outsoles.

Each sole is cut to a standard size that corresponds to the donation sizes needed for school-going children in the programme states. A sports shoe donated by a corporate employee in Mumbai can, within weeks, be resized into a pair that fits a child in Assam.

Soles that are too worn, structurally deformed, or the wrong shape to yield a clean die-cut are diverted directly to Stage 6, the granule stream, rather than being forced through a cut that would produce unusable pieces.

Stage 5 — Assembly into Refurbished Footwear and Lifestyle Products

Die-cut soles, upper-cut straps, and new binding material are assembled into finished slippers. Some products incorporate OrthoLite® Recycled insocks, which are made from 98% post-production waste, compounding the environmental benefit at the component level.

The finished footwear is distributed free of charge to children in need. Since the programme began, it has reached schools in Jharkhand, Mumbai, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, and beyond, across over 20 states.

Not every piece of recovered material becomes a slipper. Textile waste and shoe fabric are used to make school bags, yoga mats, and premium sustainable sneakers sold through GreenSole's retail arm. This commercial output funds the donation programme, making the social impact self-sustaining rather than charity-dependent.

Explore GreenSole's full sustainability approach to understand how the retail and recycling arms support each other.

Stage 6 — Granule Production: Closing the Loop on the 15%

When a shoe is upcycled, roughly 15% of the material cannot be used directly as footwear. This residual waste, off-cuts, deformed soles, and material that failed the die-cut would ordinarily go to landfill.

GreenSole built a secondary process specifically to prevent this. The TPR, TPU, and PVC materials are fed into a grinder, where they are broken down into raw granules. These granules are then sold to the automotive and furniture industries as secondary raw material. The same rubber that formed the sole of a marathon shoe can end up as a component in car interiors or furniture padding.

"Today we can grind that waste and create a sheet out of it which can be used anywhere… in furniture or even electric cars," Bhandari explained to Mongabay-India. A longer-term plan being explored with government bodies would use these granules in public running tracks and sports infrastructure — a fitting full circle for material that started life as an athlete's outsole.

The Environmental Numbers Behind the Process

The scale of the problem GreenSole is working against is significant. According to GreenSole's own data, more than 350 million pairs of shoes are discarded globally every year. Conventional footwear, made predominantly from synthetic materials, can take over 200 years to decompose in a landfill, with rubber sole components persisting even longer and releasing chemicals into the soil and groundwater throughout the landfill.

GreenSole's manual, low-energy process means the recycling step itself adds minimal emissions. The One Planet Network's case study reports that the foundation has prevented over 1,660,000 lbs of CO₂ emissions through upcycling — and has saved children across rural India from diseases and injuries caused by going barefoot.

How to Send Your Shoes to GreenSole

If you have old shoes sitting unused, the process to donate them is straightforward.

1. Check eligibility: adult shoes only — no heels, no children's sizes. Any condition is fine.

2. Find a collection point: look for corporate drives at your workplace, GreenSole drop-boxes, or partner schools and colleges near you.

3. Ship directly: individuals can pack and send pairs to GreenSole's Navi Mumbai manufacturing unit.

4. Support through purchase: every pair of footwear bought from GreenSole's sustainable retail range funds the refurbishment and donation of another pair.

Learn more about what GreenSole makes from recycled material on the What We Do page.

Frequently Asked Questions

What types of shoes does GreenSole accept for recycling?

GreenSole accepts most adult footwear, including sports shoes, sneakers, casual flats, loafers, and sandals, in any condition. The two exceptions are heeled shoes, which cannot be die-cut into flat slipper soles, and children's shoes, which are too small to yield soles in the standard sizes needed for the donation programme.

How does GreenSole turn old soles into new slippers?

After washing and disassembly, the shoe's rubber sole is die-cut to a standard slipper size. The upper fabric is cut into straps. Both components are assembled into a finished slipper along with binding material. Some products also use OrthoLite® Recycled insoles, which are made from 98% post-production waste material.

What happens to shoe parts that cannot be made into footwear?

Around 15% of each shoe cannot be directly upcycled into slippers. GreenSole grinds this residual TPR, TPU, and PVC material into raw granules, which are sold to the automotive and furniture industries as secondary raw material. Plans include using these granules in public sports infrastructure, such as running tracks.

Is the GreenSole recycling process eco-friendly?

Yes. The process is deliberately manual; no industrial solvents or high-energy machinery are used during recycling, which keeps the carbon footprint of the recycling step close to zero. GreenSole has prevented over 1,660,000 lbs of CO₂ emissions by diverting shoes from landfills, where synthetic materials would otherwise take up to 1,000 years to break down.

How can I donate shoes to GreenSole in India?

You can donate through a corporate collection drive, drop shoes at a GreenSole collection point or partner institution near you, or ship pairs directly to the manufacturing unit in Navi Mumbai. Alternatively, purchasing from GreenSole's retail range funds the donation of a refurbished pair to a child in need.