Timberland is already a leader of the pack when it comes to sustainability. Now, thanks to a partnership with a Malaysian company called Green Rubber, Timberland is about to revolutionize the shoe industry by introducing a new patented and proprietary material made from used tires. Green Rubber de-vulcanizes waste tires by ripping apart rubber’s sulfur bonds to make it recyclable, creating something called “crumb rubber”, a mesh crumb material that can be used for rubber mats, asphalt filler, road paving, and shoe soles.

“We are facing an unpublicized epidemic with 1.2 billion tires being disposed in landfills every year leading to water pollution and breeding grounds for disease-carrying insects,” said Datuk Vinod Sekhar, CEO and Founder, Green Rubber Inc. “With Green Rubber’s environmentally friendly technology, we can start to make a real dent in the mountains of tires creating an environmental blight on the planet.”

Timberland is the first footwear manufacturer to incorporate the Green Rubber technology, with more than 200,000 pairs of shoes scheduled for release in fall 2009. Using a 50/50 blend of Green Rubber and virgin rubber, Timberland is able to maintain the durability and performance characteristics of their footwear, as well as allay any health concerns about prolonged exposure to chemicals contained in Green Rubber’s material.

“We are thrilled to have found a way to support making rubber a more sustainable resource. Green Rubber is positioned to have a major impact on the global rubber industry; managing tire waste can now become both a commercially viable and eco-conscious process,” said Jeffrey Swartz, CEO, The Timberland Company. “As a company we are committed to connecting successful commerce to environmental responsibility, and this is a great opportunity for us to share our commitment to sustainability with our customers.”

We’ll never, uh, tire of this type of step forward! Sorry, but I resisted for so long!

[sources: Fast Company, Fox Business, Environmental Leader]