Birki's
are good for your feet and good for our environment.
Ecological responsibility is close to our heart and a chore aspect in our
company.
Since the foundation of our company we have been committed to saving valuable
resources in our manufacturing processes.
High quality & ecological-friendly production
We have managed to optimise our manufacturing process so that deficient
production and waste could be reduced to a minimum.
For the production of cork-styles Birki’s uses only solvent-free adhesives.
For more than 10 years we have been producing our bath and leisure sandals
completely without the use of adhesives. Birki’s has managed to develop
a completely new production method in which upper and sole are combined
directly together.
Combining Alpro-foam and Alpro-cell we use 100% chlorofluoro-carbon (CFC)-free
waterbased propellants.
Eco-friendly production of natural cork
Most Birki’s footbeds are made of a cork-latex mixture. Birki´s
only uses pure, high-quality cork. Many elaborate steps are necessary to
harvest the raw material at this level of quality. Harvesting cork from
the Portuguese cork-oak tree is done by hand to ensure care is given to
both the precious tree and the premium bark.
Solar technology
With help from solar thermal technology our in-house buckle production
manages to convert solar energy into electrical energy, which is used to
heat the water, needed for our buckle production.
Energy recovery
We count on smart use of energy with our production.
Not only could we reduce the overall energy use by about 90%, but we also
have managed to transfer residual heat to use it in the drying process of
our cork-latex footbeds – with the help of combined heat and power
cogeneration.
Optimised Recycling
Our shoeboxes and shipping cartons have always been fully recyclable.
In the production of clogs, sandals and punched-out soles made of Alpro-Cell
and Alpro-Foam there is always a certain percentage of waste material. This
excess material is not unused. It is re-used for example to cover the floors
of playgrounds or sports arenas.
Ecological
compensation areas
We create large ecological compensation areas for each and every
building that we moved into. Today all of these compensation areas are officially
designated nature reserves. Moreover, many of these biotopes are fully integrated
into the premises of all our companies.
