November 7, 2025
The materials that are part of our daily lives take hundreds or thousands of years to decompose.
Thus, companies are emerging that are committed to giving a second life to this waste. Tiresoul was born from the implementation of a circular economy plan whose objective is to reuse end-of-life tires (ELT), which take about 1,000 years to degrade naturally, seeking to give a new purpose to ELT, thus contributing to reduce the environmental footprint and promoting sustainability within the footwear industry.
Since we emerged as a company, we have maintained a close business relationship with one of the main managers and reusers of this waste, the recycling company from Leon Recuperación Materiales Diversos (RMD). After several years of cooperation, Tiresoul was acquired by RMD, having similar objectives and values since the Leonese parent company focuses on urban mining and on giving a second life to NFU through cutting-edge design in the sculpting of recycled rubber either in the form of urban furniture or decoration. This fusion manages to open new horizons to the recycling of this waste through sustainable fashion design.
During the autarchy period in Spain we can already see examples of reuse of tires as shoe soles. At a time marked by the post-war period, protectionism and widespread poverty, the need sharpened the ingenuity and managed to lay the premature foundations for the recycling of NFU as shoe soles. Nowadays, necessity has a sustainable component, betting on reuse and recycling in a sector that has traditionally been very polluting.
And what advantages does this material have over the rest, you might ask? The tire is prepared to withstand 40,000 kilometers in cars weighing two tons at speeds of up to 140 km/hour. Therefore, if it can withstand that in a car, its use as shoe soles can be practically unlimited. The useful life of a tire is the prologue of its history, because from Tiresoul we make it be reborn with a new utility, as a shoe sole that will continue to roll along this new road.
We have developed a “unique” technology to reuse tires in an innovative way and without resorting to chemical, thermal or shredding processes. From each tire tread, 6 to 8 soles can be extracted, or in other words, 3 to 4 pairs of any type of footwear can be manufactured. The leftover tread material is returned to the industrial chain for recycling in a process that not only reduces the amount of waste that ends up in landfills, but also provides an opportunity for innovative and sustainable applications of recycled rubber. Tiresoul's ultimate goal with RMD is to spread sustainable practices within the fashion industry.
