ACTIVELY TRANSFORMING OUR WASTE: IN CONVERSATION WITH LEMON JELLY
Lemon Jelly is a PETA-approved Vegan footwear brand turning our notions of plastic upside down. Through sustainable commitments and playful design, the brand is becoming an agent of change and innovation through their collection Wasteless Act.
I was introduced to the team in Porto where Lemon Jelly is headquartered. We immediately hit it off with a common passion for the health of our planet and fashion design. Lemon Jelly is part of For Ever, a leading European footwear manufacturer which has been making soles for 49 years. This carries history, albeit fascinating, but possibly charged with less room to shake things up, when a company wants to make big changes, in a world going through big changes.
In our interview with Jose Pinto, the president and founder’s son, and Ricardo Oliveira, the Marketing Manager, we discuss the driving forces that led Lemon Jelly to modify its manufacturing systems to be sustainable, how the company is making the transition to a circular model and the truth about plastics.
*This article was revised on November 21st 2019 to include further information provided by the Lemon Jelly team on their plastic production.
The Wasteless Act is a 100% recycled line, made out of Lemon Jelly’s production waste, releasing 90% less CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.
GW: Lemon Jelly is part of a great history. Could you tell me more about how you went from a leading footwear manufacturer to creating an innovative, sustainable and Peta approved brand nominated for the 2019 DRAPERS Woman's Fashion Brand award?
JP: It has been quite a ride. Lemon Jelly is part of the 45 year old group Procalçado, leader in the footwear components segment in Portugal and one of the biggest in Europe. In the beginning of the century we started to feel the shifting of footwear production to Asia. Orders dropped, and it was hard to keep a steady structure of already 200 people back then. Some of our biggest clients, working with us for more that 30 years, invited us to open factories overseas, they would support us with orders to pay our investments. But we had a big commitment with our team and their families and closing factories, or shifting a big part of our production to Asia, was not an option. Focusing on our strategy and know-how, polymer moulding, we thought in what we could do differently, which was relevant to the market, and would increase our control over the value chain or our business. The injected footwear project began, first with WOCK a professional footwear brand, and later with Lemon Jelly.
GW: Was the transition into sustainability difficult? How and when did you come to this decision? I know this is a family business and your father seems like such a pioneer too! I am really curious to know how you stay modern and so caring of important issues.
JP: I don’t think it was a difficult change because we always had a socially and environmentally responsible approach in the business.
The biggest challenge is to standardize the processes, and make sure the sustainable way of thinking is present everywhere, and we haven’t reach this yet, we are on our way. Since the beginning of our company and over the 45 years of our history, we have taken many steps towards environmental and social sustainability through the following:
Our daily struggle to keep an industrial project in Europe
The removal a single-use plastic from our facilities
The installation of 900 solar panels in the factory
The signature of renewable energy sourcing contracts to make sure we have 100% renewable energy powering our factories
Turning our brands Vegan
The WASTELESS Act project, with 100% recycled plastic shoes.
These are some of the steps, and they just started to happen as part of the vision of a company that wants to have the smallest impact on the planet it can possibly have. So, answering to your question, it wasn’t about keeping in tune with what is happening with the market today, it was much more something that my father started and I’m joining and trying to continue.
GW: Many brands want to change their systems and don’t know where to start. How would you advise a fashion brand or manufacturer with no experience to shift into sustainable practices? What are the first steps you took as a manufacturer?
JP: Well I think the best thing is to look inside, that’s what we are doing. What are they doing, how are they doing it and what has the biggest negative impact towards social and environmental sustainability? Make a list and start from there. That’s how we did it, we started with electrical energy consumption, because we knew it was one of our weak spots. As an injection company our electrical bill is 3 to 5 times higher than industry average. This has a huge environmental impact and the first thing we did was removing this footprint with renewable energy. Another step we did was to create the WASTELESS ACT. To produce high quality shoes, we have to reject many defects, creating a lot of waste. With the WASTELESS Act we grind all the shoes and inject them again into new shoes.
We started by doing our homework, changing first what we are not doing not so well at home first, we looked at this as a way to start. Then new steps follow, like the recycling of used shoes from our clients, a project that we want to start in 2020 or 2021.
GW: I noticed on your website there is little mention of sustainability. Some brands are choosing to not make it a central focus, as they feel it should be a given and completely normal. Has this been a part of your strategy?
JP: Initially that was the way we were thinking, but honestly at this moment I think we are being hammered with news about how bad plastic is, and we need to do something about it. People must understand that there is good plastic and bad plastic. The good plastic is long-lasting plastic, produced in Europe, under tight environmental and social standards, that can be recycled over and over, with very low greenhouse gas emissions. And bad-plastic is the kind you use once and throw away, has low recyclability, is produced with no social and environmental control. Plastic will never go away, there is no substitute for it, the question is people need to know how to use it, what are they using, and how to handle it in its end of life. So we feel we have a role to play, explaining to people the impact of their choices and more importantly the impact of their actions.
GW: When I visited your factory you explained the different types of plastics and what can actually be recycled. Could you give the readers a crash course on understanding this?
JP: Yes, that’s what we were saying, not all plastic is the same and it is very important for people to understand this. Plastic will always be part of our lives. Whether it is plastic from fossil fuel sources like oil, or bio based from corn for example, the question is that we’ll always need a material to use in everything you see today produced in plastic, pipes, electrical wires, medical devices, shoes and everything else.
But make no confusion, bio-based or fossil fuel based, we will always need to recycled them in the end of life, and this is the true change that needs to happen, humanity needs to enter into a circular system. Plastic is one of the materials in the worlds with biggest recyclability properties, it can be used over and over again, lowering incredibly its environmental footprint. Its biggest problem is also its biggest strength if we learn how to use it. And this starts on design, the biggest challenge for our designers is how to create a beautifully designed product, that is also designed to be disassembled and recycled at the end of life.
GW: You have a strong focus on the way your workers are treated and the environment they work in. Could you tell us more about this?
JP: Our team is always on our mind, they are an essential part of our success, and together we are the company. Every day we feel the responsibility to keep the more than 350 jobs safe, in a very difficult and competitive international context for a European industry project. Despite that we continuously try to improve their conditions, as an example we’ve recently provided all employees with additional health insurance. But we have more measures to be implemented in the near future, because we believe they are an integral part of our future.
GW: What are the good and bad plastics and bad plastics? added 21/11/2019
RO: For us there is a major difference, being bad plastic the single use plastic, and the good plastic long-lasting plastic which can be recycled over and over again. Then there is also a very important element, good plastics are the plastics produced under conscious production practices,. We are in Portugal so we are working under European standards, as for example the REACH, but there are others that we are obliged to comply to produce in Europe, with very rigorous control on hazardous emissions to the atmosphere or the waters treatment for example.
Here are some more specifics on the different types of plastic:
Clean Materials (single component with nothing mixed together) – These type of mono-material defective products are recycled (grinded) as they exit the machine and, when its technically possible, reintroduced immediately in the production.
Full mixtures – In this cases we can mix a big variety of colours and materials, the grinding process happens in our recycling are where the products are fully grinded. The selection of materials will depend on the final effect we or our clients want, but we can always work with black soles on this type of recycling and some of the soles of Lemon Jelly we do like this.
Controlled colouring – In this case we want to create different colours with the recycled products. This means we need to separate the waste by colour and it is a combination of these wastes that will enable us to reach the final colour in a controlled manner. These colours are more difficult to replicate and have more unstable supplying availability.
GW: José mentioned Lemon Jelly wants to be able to recycle the shoes from consumers, do you already have a plan? added 21/11/2019
RO: Yes we have a plan, and if everything goes like we planned we expect to start collecting shoes in 2020, more specifically in AW20. We are still defining exactly how we are going to do this, but we are trying to put in place a strategy that involves everyone, consumers, retailers and us the brand and the manufacturers.
GW: I love the happy and energetic “vibes” expressed by the Lemon jelly brand. This stands out when traditionally, sustainable brands were often associated with a more austere aesthetic. What inspired you to make “fun” core to the brand, even down to the shoes being lemon scented?
JP: It’s the reflex of our company. Work hard play hard, that’s how we like to live our lives, and I think the brand reflects exactly that. I believe that a brand should reflect the values of the people who are making it, that’s the only way to do it sustainably for years and years to come, and we are not here for the short run.
GW: So, what is the concept of the collection for Autumn Winter 2019?
JP: For Autumn/Winter 19, the season where we announce ourselves as a PETA Approved Vegan Brand and we launch the WASTELESS Act, our first 100% recycled plastic range, we created a universe inspired in the water element and its forms of expression. An ode to nature, contrasting between the beauty and intricacy of a single rain drop and the power and strength of a raging winter tide. Embracing water as a natural force and capturing its movement and energy in a collection filled with essential and functional styles prepared for all terrains.
With an impulse to take action, Lemon Jelly confronts the idea of swimming against the current or hiding from the storms with an only choice: rising with the tides. We draw inspiration from nature’s beauty and, above all, its strength but always acknowledging that the planet is fragile and in need of constant attention.
GW: As a brand putting recycling and sustainability at the heart of what you do, what are your views on fashion trends and the seasonal delivery cycle we work around?
JP: I think that the world is going to change dramatically over the upcoming decades, energy sources, transportation, food habits and supplies, fashion will be no exception. Trends will always be present, individuality will always be a human need, the way we express ourselves as an individual or as part of a group. But the centre should be a more conscious approach to fashion, where high quality and long-lasting products will be the norm, and disposable fashion will occupy a smaller and smaller percentage of the market, especially until we find true alternatives to the linear system we have today. But alternatives will arise, like the renting of fashion items, this could be a big part of the future. Instead of purchasing high fashionable articles you rent them, this is a way of minimising the footprint of fashion, but still make it part of your life.
GW: How do you envision your preferable future? Where do you see Lemon Jelly in 2030?
JP: In 2030 I hope I’ll see a future where we are much more in balance with our planet than we are now, the future of our children depends on that. From our side we are going to continue to invest in five major things:
Zero Waste – In three years we expect to have Zero waste in our production facilities.
New materials – Continue investing, together with our suppliers, in the research for new materials, bio-based, that can offer an increasingly better and sustainable experience to our clients.
Closing the circle – We believe that in 2030 we’ll have already a global operation of recollecting our shoes to recycle them again into new products.
Minimising our footprint – Even though at this moment I can’t still give you to many hints because our plan is still in progress, we have the goal to minimize our carbon footprint over the next years.
Continue to grow as a brand, in a sustainable way, deeply focused on our strategy.
GW: What is innovation for you? It's such an overused word but what does it truly mean for you?
JP: For me innovation is the capability of creatively find new ideas, methods, products and systems that allow us to progress and now, more than ever, in a sustainable way. And it is present not only in what is disruptively new, but also in the ability to make simple what is complicated, maybe here lays the true genial innovation.
GW: What project(s) are you really excited about?
JP: What excites us the most is to be part of this movement of change, we have several new ideas and projects for the future so stay tuned!
| By Geraldine Wharry
Images courtesy of Lemon Jelly and Geraldine Wharry
Find out more at Lemonjelly.com and on Instagram @lemonjellyshoes