Sustainability
Ccilu's vision is simple
Decrease the waste and plastic going into the landfills and the ocean
Create a quality and trustworthy product, while decreasing our carbon footprint
Help save the planet by promoting conscious consumerism
Collectively Creating a Sustainable Future
Let’s talk about food waste – Every day more than 2 billion cups of coffee are consumed globally, resulting in over six million tons of coffee grounds being sent to landfills every year. Global food waste accounts for roughly one sixth of the total annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The footwear industry alone contributes 1.4% of global GHG emissions.
Now, let’s talk about plastics. As a consumer society, we need to switch the global message to "reduce what you buy - and reuse it for as long as possible." With a surplus of unusable plastic littering our land and sea, innovators across the world have set out to find ways to upcycle plastics into materials for use within the fashion industry, an industry responsible for roughly 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions.
Our Ccilu headquarters, located on the island of Taiwan, consistently sees trash and plastic from the neighboring countries of Japan, Korea, China, the Philippines and Vietnam, as well as locally produced waste. Additionally, as many of these countries also buy recycling from the United States and Europe, issues in overall logistics lead to a surplus of non-recycled waste and plastics circulating in the ocean. Faced with these local issues, Ccilu set out on a journey to remove both food waste and plastics from the waste stream, while simultaneously decreasing their emissions, leading to the development of the XpreSole® and GreenPlax® technologies.
At Ccilu, we are inspired to uncover solutions to a more sustainable future. We strive to stand apart from the traditional practices of the fashion industry by implementing innovation that can decrease our negative impact on the planet, while increasing our positive impact on the community.
COMMUNITY COLLABORATIVE COLLECTION
Ccilu set out to make a positive impact on both the planet and the Taiwanese community, so it created two different methods for plastic collection.
(1) Ccilu hosts beach clean-up events islandwide
(2) Ccilu has a plastic bottle collection program and pays low-income, disadvantaged residents three times more than the average income to collect plastic from across Taiwan
The plastic collected through these methods is not just discarded, but locally upcycled at Ccilu’s state-of-the-art production facility. This plastic, in turn, becomes one of the primary materials used to create the laces, shell, and outsole of the XpreSole shoes and all aspects of the GreenPlax shoes, demonstrating our unwavering commitment to sustainability.
Ccilu has collection systems in place with coffee shops, local businesses, factories, and more across Taiwan to collect SCGs. As Ccilu has grown, we have also utilized coffee grounds from neighboring countries such as Japan.
Every minute
more than a million plastic bottles are thrown away
CREATING A CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Once Ccilu collects the post-consumer plastics and spent coffee grounds, they employ an on-site up-cycling facility to create the materials that will be utilized during the footwear production. To close the loop, Ccilu offers every customer the ability to send back their shoes upon retirement and the process of upcycling happens once again to create oil which is used for energy, and donated to community members in need.
The Journey to Carbon Neutrality
We promise to reduce our carbon emissions further as we strive to be carbon neutral.
As a B Corp, we continue to develop ESG (Environmental, Social Governance) and SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) initiatives to increase our positive impact on the planet. In addition to upcycling coffee grounds and plastic bottles, Ccilu has developed manufacturing processes that include materials from upcycled silicon slurries and agriculture/aquaculture wastes, such as pineapple, corn, tea stock, fish scales, and bamboo. Upcycling materials currently circulating, rather than producing virgin materials is the future of sustainable fashion.
Thanks to the materials we use in our footwear production, Ccilu products emit only half the carbon of a traditional brand. We are not stopping there. By the end of 2024, we aim to pioneer the world’s first carbon-neutral and, ideally, carbon-negative footwear. And by the end of 2026, we envision Ccilu as a fully carbon-neutral company, further solidifying our commitment to sustainability.
An upcycled shoe from 20G fish scales + 10 plastic bottles
Your Eyes are Not Playing Tricks!
Yes, we now have a new logo specifically for the USA market! Here’s the story behind it:
We began as Ccilu, which means "liberate" in Japanese. Over the years, our original CCILU logo has symbolized our commitment to quality, innovation, and sustainability, serving as a recognizable identity for our global market.
In 2025, as part of our journey, we launched Ccilu USA Inc., introducing an updated blue logo designed exclusively for the USA market. This version reflects our mission to tailor our branding to regional needs while maintaining a cohesive global identity. The lighter "C" paired with the darker "CILU" signifies balance and progress, echoing our dedication to reducing environmental impact through upcycled materials like discarded coffee grounds, ocean plastics, aquaculture and agricultural waste, and silicon slurries.
Meanwhile, the red CILU logo continues to highlight our love for the planet. By removing the first "C," it showcases our focus on reducing carbon emissions for specific collections.
At Ccilu, every logo tells a story. Whether it’s the corporate CCILU logo, the vibrant red CILU logo, or the new blue Ccilu logo, each reflects our eco-friendly mission and innovative approach. Through partnerships with organizations and programs, we proudly demonstrate our commitment to sustainability, conscious consumerism, and creating a positive impact worldwide.
Sustainable Technologies
Xpresole®
The Xpresole® Collection is crafted with materials made from upcycled coffee grounds and yarn made from recycled plastic bottles to replace materials otherwise made of petrochemicals.
GreenPlax®
GreenPlax® recycled bottle footwear reduces the plastics, microplastics, and petroleum typically used by the traditional footwear industry - upcycling an average of 15 plastic bottles per pair.
Silicomfy®
SiliComfy® integrates upcycled semiconductor waste with other polymers to mitigate salt, nitrogen, and phosphorus pollution, as well as organic and heavy metal contaminants.