Havaianas shops can be found in malls throughout Asia Pacific. Now the brand hopes the flip-flops it sells eventually make their way back to its stores as part of a recycling initiative. The footwear maker’s parent company, Alpargatas, announced plans to invest US$50 million in regional expansion over the next two years.
Of course, additional waste is a possible result of more products being distributed. That is why Havaianas is scaling up its recycling program. Its goal is to collect at least 10 percent of the total flip-flops it sells across Asia Pacific.
The unwanted footwear is collected via drop boxes at Havaianas outlets. From there, the flip-flops are sent to a local recycling partner who then gives them a second life. More than 100 stores have collection points, and the brand believes it will have full coverage by 2030 at the latest.
“To do this, we are immersed in our processes and products, seeking innovative solutions and rethinking traditional logic, from raw materials, production, and transport, to the possibilities of final disposal and new life cycles. We are proud to make this pledge that sets out to mitigate the impact on the environment here in Asia, by reducing the amount of rubber flip flops ending up in landfills,” Robert Esser, Alpargatas, S.A. for APAC and China President, told Marketing Interactive.
The program began in Australia and has since been expanded to Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand. This year will see Taiwan and New Zealand join the fold with nearly half of all stores in Asia Pacific expected to boast drop boxes for recycled flip-flop collection by year’s end.
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Interesting Analysis
Look, doing something positive is always better than doing nothing when it comes to recycling. Havaianas establishing a program to recycle the flip-flops it sells in Asia Pacific is good. However, you also can’t help but think more could be done.
Look at Starboard, for example. They want to be 100 percent sustainable despite manufacturing a much more diverse range of products. Havaianas aiming to recycle 10 percent of all flip-flops sold feels like an unambitious target for a program. Of course, getting people to bring their old shoes back to the store they purchased them from is a tough ask. But there are ways to incentivize this behavior.
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