Sustainability in footwear and pet accessories with TPE

Kraiburg TPE, a global manufacturer of TPEs and customised solutions for various industries, offers select TPE materials with strong performance features and sustainability benefits for footwear and pet accessory applications. Kraiburg TPE’s material options for footwear components provide reliable performance, design flexibility, and scalability for footwear designers, OEM manufacturers, and brand owners.

Unleashing TPE Advantage for Smart Pet Trackers

Caring for pets is not all unicorns and rainbows. It is a serious commitment to keeping them safe, knowing their location in real time, and keeping them healthy by monitoring their activity levels. Smart pet wearable technologies such as pet trackers, including collar tags, harness trackers, and GPS collars are on hand to ease the task for pet owners. Not all smart pet trackers are equal. The best brands combine accurate monitoring with comfort, durability, mobility, and safety.

Kraiburg TPE’s Thermolast R RC/AD1/AP series, developed for the Asia Pacific market, is a sustainable TPE solution that delivers non-toxic, durable, and lightweight material benefits specifically for smart pet tracker applications. 

Smooth-touch and coat-friendly comfort - The Thermolast R RC/AD1/AP series enables superior comfort in smart pet wearables by offering a soft-touch, smooth, non-sticky surface and a lightweight feel.The compounds have been tested according to ISO 10993-5 for cytotoxicity and ISO 10993-23 for skin irritation, providing assurance of skin-friendly wear.

Safety-compliant for wearables - Thermolast R RC/AD1/AP series complies with rigorous safety standards required for smart wearable applications.The material is fully compliant with European hazardous substances and chemical standards such as RoHS (for EEE) and REACH SVHC and has undergone rigorous testing under UL 94HB flammability to safeguard against risks associated with heat or fire exposure.

Design flexibility with a range of colours - The Thermolast R RC/AD1/AP series offers a wide range of colour options, from natural to black and other pre-coloured variants, allowing designers the flexibility to create visually distinct wearables that integrate seamlessly with various pet accessories. This versatility enables brand differentiation and satisfies consumer preferences for style and personalisation in smart pet wearables.

Enabling process efficiency and durability - The Thermolast R RC/AD1/AP series is engineered to effect functional performance. It offers excellent adhesion to PC, ABS, and PC/ABS, enabling efficient multi-component injection moulding. With a hardness range of 60–80 Shore A, the series allows for easy processability and mouldability, resulting in a durable, compact structure. As well, it balances flexibility and strength to prevent tearing and resists deformation under pressure. Its elasticity enables tight sealing of smart wearable elements.

Boosting efforts for higher recycled content - The Thermolast R RC/AD1/AP series is a Global Recycled Standard (GRS)-certified compound that meets manufacturers’ requirements for eco-friendly and ethically sourced recycled-content material suitable for innovative products such as smart wearables. It contains 34% to 50% post-industrial recycled (PIR) content, bolstering industry efforts to meet increasing recycled content targets.

Reliable TPE materials for footwear innovation

As consumer expectations for comfort, functionality, and style continue to evolve in the footwear industry, selecting the right shoe string adjuster material is more critical than ever. Even the tiniest components like toggle stoppers and lace locks can significantly impact a product’s overall performance and appeal.

Meeting key requirements for footwear component designs - Footwear professionals prioritise performance factors such as strong multi-material adhesion, efficient processability, durability, and user comfort. Aesthetic flexibility and regulatory compliance are also essential. KRAIBURG TPE’s innovative compound addresses these requirements, delivering a customisable TPE for footwear brands that meets both functional and design needs in modern lacing systems.

Optimised for multi-material manufacturing - This TPE compound provides excellent adhesion to engineering plastics such as PC, ABS, PC/ABS ASA, and SAN, ideal for co-moulding and hybrid component designs. It supports insert moulding and other automated processes, helping manufacturers reduce cycle times, eliminate secondary operations, and improve production efficiency. This makes it one of the ideal materials for toggle stoppers and lace locks, particularly for performance-driven shoes.

Soft-touch surface for enhanced user experience - With a dry, smooth, soft-touch TPE for lacing systems, this material improves the tactile feel and usability of components such as adjusters and lace locks. Designed for use in athletic, outdoor, and lifestyle footwear, it offers a non-slip grip with a premium hand feel, delivering consumer comfort and satisfaction that enhances brand loyalty.

Aesthetic versatility for brand customisation - The TPE compound’s excellent colourability enables full customisation to align with brand identities, seasonal themes, and style segments. Whether for bold, vibrant designs or minimalist sophistication, this thermoplastic elastomer for footwear components supports versatile branding, making it ideal for fast-evolving fashion and sportswear markets.

Built for real-world performance - Footwear components endure constant use, friction, and exposure to variable conditions. This durable TPE for sports and lifestyle footwear is engineered for mechanical strength, elastic recovery, and abrasion resistance. It retains its properties across temperature ranges and resists permanent deformation, ensuring reliable performance even under frequent stress.

Application flexibility across footwear lines - Beyond shoe string adjusters, this material also serves a variety of component needs, including toggle stoppers, lace locks, pull-tabs, and quick-lace system parts. Its adaptability allows brands to standardise on one high-performance material across product lines, balancing efficiency with innovation.

Partnering for scalable footwear innovation - Kraiburg TPE is supporting its partners with custom-engineered solutions, technical support, and reliable global supply. Whether you are designing a next-gen trails shoe or streamlining your production process for a lifestyle sneaker line, this high-performance TPE solution offers the properties required to take your shoe string adjuster design from concept to mass production with confidence.

Sustainability from the get-go

At Kraiburg TPE, sustainability is at the heart of our innovation. Our portfolio features bio-based TPEs and compounds with post-consumer (PCR) and post-industrial (PIR) recycled content. Selected TPEs carry GRS and ISCC PLUS certifications. We also provide Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) data on request to support sustainability decisions.We proudly earned the EcoVadis Gold Medal in 2025 and are committed to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), aligning our goals with global climate action.From reducing emissions to increasing circularity, our sustainable TPEs deliver dependable performance and are available worldwide to help meet your applications while advancing your sustainability goals. (Press Relaese)

SUBSCRIBE to Get the Latest Updates from PRA    Click Here»