GOING GREEN
From pit stop to shoe shop : Compound Footwear drives forward to manufacture trainers from recycled F1 tyres
Compound Footwear is a Bath-based start-up brand inspired by Founder Alex Witty ’ s deep connections to the motorsport industry . The business transforms waste racing tyres into stylish , sustainable footwear , driven by a commitment to reducing environmental impact and promoting responsible fashion .
The origin of Compound Footwear traces back to Alex ’ s family , particularly his father who worked in Formula 1 during the 1980s alongside legends like Ayrton Senna at Toleman . We chatted to Alex to get the inside track on Compound Footwear .
Can you tell us about your connection to F1 ? I was first introduced to the world of F1 through my father who took me to the Melbourne Grand Prix in 2002 with the Jordan Team . It was several years later , after almost a decade of treating motorsport as background noise , that I started to pay attention and invest emotionally in the sport .
Where did the Compound journey begin ? Compound began in 2020 whilst I was in our university accommodation living room in Brighton , watching the buildup to the Melbourne Grand Prix . This race was famously cancelled the day before it started due to Covid .
I recall all the tyre waste due to the cancellation . The fact that they had been unwrapped meant they couldn ’ t be used again and had to be destroyed .
This ignited a creative spark in me . As someone who was studying product design , writing a dissertation on biomimicry and circularity , and studying in the only city in the UK with a green political seat , I thought ‘ I can do something here ’.
I called my dad , asked him a bunch of questions he ’ d never heard before about tyres and then explained what I was going to try and do .
It ’ s fair to say he was surprised and maybe a little bemused but like all great father figures , he wanted to help his boy and picked up the phone and tried to connect me with some motorsport contacts from his little black book .
I got chatting to all these industry professionals in motorsport and concluded that there was a place for
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Compound in this world . Not just a place , but a very welcome seat at the table .
Can you tell us about the process of turning F1 tyres into sustainable clothing and footwear ? The process is something we are still refining . Principally , we collect tyres from a race team , clean them , and send them to a shredding facility that separates the metal , fabric and rubber from each other and powderises the rubber .
“ we are developing a new material derived from the oil in tyre rubber to create our own unique fabric ”
From that point we can add this rubber powder into a hopper at our shoe manufacturing facility .
We ’ re still experimenting with ratios as we strive to add as much recycled race tyre rubber into the shoes as possible without harming the structural integrity .
As a start-up , what were the main hurdles you have faced ? For many startups , funding is usually the biggest issue . For us it is no different .
At Compound , we ’ ve had to fight tooth and nail for every penny we ’ ve raised . Whether through working multiple jobs , painstaking and soul-destroying grant applications or egocrushing attempted fundraising through crowdfunding , we ’ ve tried many routes .
There were many things we wanted to execute at the start . It would have saved me years of R & D , but we didn ’ t have the funds for it . I had to prioritise the most necessary tasks and pour the limited funds into that , hoping it produced some yield .
We ’ ve learned that putting as many grant applications out there as possible at once is a very good route for maximising your chances of securing funding - multiple lines provide a higher likelihood of catching a fish ! Once you ’ ve caught one or two little fishes , you ’ re able to go for a bigger one and so forth .
What does your product range include and where can people buy items ? Our product range at the moment is limited to our sustainable clothing line which you can find on our website .
Our footwear is undergoing final testing and should be ready for early 2025 which we are so excited about . If you want to be the first to know when pre-orders start you can sign up to our newsletter via our website .
Have you got more on the horizon ? Yes , very much so ! It ’ s actually rather frustrating at this moment in time as I ’ m constantly dreaming up new features for Compound but the priority has to be shoes first , which is where our funds and time are going .
Clothing will develop further with the introduction of recycled racing jackets , a selection of other jackets and some winter wear for the colder months . Additionally , we are developing a new material derived from the oil in tyre rubber to create our own unique fabric / material that will be perfect
For more info : wwww . compoundfootwear . com