A method of reclaiming used tennis balls and transforming the material reclaimed from the tennis balls into soles for footwear. This multi-step process requires acquiring used tennis balls, grinding the tennis balls into ground rubber bits (usable elements) and tennis ball fuzz (unusable elements). The rubber and fuzz are passed through a screen which allows the rubber bits to exit the screen but retains the fuzz. The rubber is then mixed with an H.sub.2O and Polyurethane mixture to form a rubber mixture. This mixture is then pressed to a desired thickness in a hydraulic press, cured, and then cut out into a desired shoe sole shape and size which can be used to manufacture footwear.

A footwear outsole created partially from a preferred recycled rubber consisting of a rubber powder of a high surface to area to volume ratio. The recycled rubber is created via a fully mechanical process and devulcanized without the use of chemicals. When mixed and re-vulcanized into new rubber, the surface area to volume ratio of the recycled rubber particles produce a rubber that mixes well with virgin rubber and results in a compound with excellent physical parameters. The recycled rubber powder has rubber particles that are preferably of a size between 250 and 1000 micrometers. Consumer products such as footwear outsoles, produced using the preferred recycled rubber mixed with virgin rubber display excellent physical properties for the intended use of footwear outsoles.

A footwear outsole created partially from a preferred recycled rubber consisting of a rubber powder of a high surface to area to volume ratio. The recycled rubber is created via a fully mechanical process and devulcanized without the use of chemicals. When mixed and re-vulcanized into new rubber, the surface area to volume ratio of the recycled rubber particles produce a rubber that mixes well with virgin rubber and results in a compound with excellent physical parameters. The recycled rubber powder has rubber particles that are preferably of a size between 250 and 1000 micrometers. Consumer products such as footwear outsoles, produced using the preferred recycled rubber mixed with virgin rubber display excellent physical properties for the intended use of footwear outsoles.

A method of reclaiming used tennis balls and transforming the material reclaimed from the tennis balls into soles for footwear. This multi-step process requires acquiring used tennis balls, grinding the tennis balls into ground rubber bits (usable elements) and tennis ball fuzz (unusable elements). The rubber and fuzz are passed through a screen which allows the rubber bits to exit the screen but retains the fuzz. The rubber is then mixed with an H.sub.2O and Polyurethane mixture to form a rubber mixture. This mixture is then pressed to a desired thickness in a hydraulic press, cured, and then cut out into a desired shoe sole shape and size which can be used to manufacture footwear.

The present invention relates to a footwear article (10), comprising: a upper (30), a majority by mass of the upper or a majority of the surface of the upper is made of a main upper material and possibly of one or more auxiliary upper material(s); a sole (20), a majority by mass of the sole is made of a main sole material and possibly of one or more auxiliary sole material(s);
and the main upper material, and possibly the auxiliary upper material(s), and the main sole material, and possibly the auxiliary sole material(s), is/are selected among the following materials: the polyolefins, the styrenic thermoplastic elastomers, the olefinic thermoplastic elastomers, and the vulcanized thermoplastic elastomers.

The present invention also relates to a method for manufacturing such a footwear article (10).

A method of producing a reclaimed rubber made of recycled shoe material waste includes the following steps. Step S1: collect a scrap rubber which is the shoe material waste. Step S2: grind the scrap rubber to form scrap rubber granules. Step S3: devulcanize the scrap rubber granules to form a reclaimed rubber. A reclaimed material for manufacturing shoes includes a reclaimed rubber formulation and a crosslinking agent, wherein the reclaimed rubber formulation is constituted by compounding a basic rubber formulation and the reclaimed rubber, wherein the reclaimed material for manufacturing shoes includes 65-94.8 wt % of the basic rubber formulation, 5-30 wt % of the reclaimed rubber, and 0.2 wt % to 5 wt % of crosslinking agent. Mechanical properties of the reclaimed material for manufacturing shoes meet required standards of shoe outsole material. A method of consuming rubber waste produced during the shoe manufacturing process is disclosed herein.

The present invention relates to a footwear article (10), comprising: a upper (30), a majority by mass of the upper or a majority of the surface of the upper is made of a main upper material and possibly of one or more auxiliary upper material(s); a sole (20), a majority by mass of the sole is made of a main sole material and possibly of one or more auxiliary sole material(s);
and the main upper material, and possibly the auxiliary upper material(s), and the main sole material, and possibly the auxiliary sole material(s), is/are selected among the following materials: the polyolefins, the styrenic thermoplastic elastomers, the olefinic thermoplastic elastomers, and the vulcanized thermoplastic elastomers. The present invention also relates to a method for manufacturing such a footwear article (10).