French Nonprofit Saves 9,000+ Sneakers from Landfills

Every week, hundreds of beat-up sneakers arrive at a small workshop east of Paris, and workers ask one simple question: Can this shoe be saved?

SneakCœurZ is proving the answer is often yes. The nonprofit collected 30,000 pairs of used trainers last year, reselling 2,000 pairs and redistributing more than 7,000 to people who needed them.

The timing couldn't be better. France sold 259 million pairs of shoes in 2024, but only a third of used footwear gets properly collected. The rest sits in closets or ends up in household trash, adding to a massive waste problem in one of the world's fashion capitals.

At their workshop in Champs-sur-Marne, workers inspect each donated shoe with care. Pairs that pass inspection get cleaned from sole to laces, disinfected inside, and sometimes whitened under UV light before heading back out into the world.

Workshop manager Paul Defawes Abadie says the decision comes down to structure. Broken Velcro, missing laces, and dirt never disqualify a shoe. What matters is whether the outsole and core materials can hold up to more wear.

Director Mohamed Boukhatem has big plans for growth. Over the next three years, SneakCœurZ aims to triple or quadruple its volume and reach industrial scale. No other organization is tackling sneaker reuse at this level in France.

The Ripple Effect

The nonprofit's work extends beyond environmental impact. Those 9,000 pairs of rescued shoes helped create 19 jobs in the community, turning waste into opportunity.

France is backing the movement with policy too. A 2020 anti-waste law now requires unsold goods to be reused or recycled instead of destroyed. The government also introduced repair bonuses for clothing and shoes in 2023.

The stakes run deeper than overstuffed closets. The fashion and textile industry produces up to 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the United Nations. In 2020, textiles ranked as the third-largest source of water degradation and land use across the European Union.

SneakCœurZ proves that solutions can start small and local while tackling global problems, one saved sole at a time.