Fela Buyi Akinse is developing sustainable footwear through his company, Salubata. The brand uses modular designs and recycled ocean PET plastic to reduce waste and create a circular production model for the fashion industry. Beyond recycling, Akinse holds patents for technology that aims to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen using the pressure generated while walking. This approach combines environmental toxicology with consumer product design to address plastic pollution and carbon emissions.
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Interesting approach to circularity with the modular shoes. Using ocean PET is a start, but the real value is in the replaceable components to stop the whole shoe from hitting a landfill.
I am skeptical about the carbon to oxygen conversion via walking pressure. The energy required for that chemical reaction is usually high. Does anyone have the actual technical specs or a white paper on the conversion rate?
Even if the conversion rate is low, the patent is the real asset here. From a policy side, this is more about proving that African startups can lead in green IP rather than offsetting global emissions at scale.
Modular footwear sounds good until you look at the supply chain for those replacement parts. If the logistics for the refills are carbon heavy, it cancels out the benefit of the recycled plastic.
