In a warehouse near Bayreuth there are tons of unused shoe soles – allegedly there are around a million. They come from the overproduction of various manufacturers. An entrepreneur from Hof ??wants to prevent the soles from being destroyed – and has already received inquiries from South America.
Creußen/Hof (dpa/lby) – An entrepreneur from Hof ??in Upper Franconia wants to save around one million unused shoe soles from destruction. The soles are currently in a warehouse in Creußen (Bayreuth district), as entrepreneur Harald Prokscha told the German Press Agency on Monday. The “Bayerischer Rundfunk” had previously reported on the unused shoe soles. According to Harald Prokscha, these come from the overproduction of large shoe manufacturers such as Salamander, Adidas or Puma.
A company from Creußen sold some of the unused soles, says Prokscha. The company is now leaving the site – and with it the remaining stocks stored there. If they are not used, they will probably have to be burned. “My guess is that there must be around a million shoe soles,” says Harald Prokscha, who is committed to sustainability and avoiding waste.
With his initiative “weiterGebenOrg” he tries to convey the soles to people or companies who still have a use for them. “We still have a good four weeks left, then they have to go.” Because soon a new tenant will move into the building in Creußen. In addition, some of the soles have been lying around for several years, says Prokscha: “The material doesn’t get any better over time.”
Prokscha’s initiative “weiterGebenOrg” primarily sells discarded school and office furniture to interested parties. Shoe soles are something new for him, says the Hof entrepreneur. According to his own statements, he has already received inquiries from artists who want to use the soles for “upcycling” projects. “Upcycling” means using items that are no longer needed and upgrading them in the process.
But even on other continents, people have become aware of the shoe soles, says Prokscha: “A cooperative from Paraguay that wants to use them for shoe production contacted us.” However, transporting the soles by ship from Upper Franconia to South America is complex and expensive.
