ECCO Awarded Popular Science ‘Best of What’s New’ Award for DriTan™

December 6, 2019

Innovative water-saving tanning process receives award in recreation category

Londonderry, NH (December 6, 2019) – ECCO, the leading family-owned global footwear brand, proudly announces their DriTan™ technology has been awarded  Popular Science’s Best of What’s New award for 2019. DriTan, the revolutionary new technology that breaks the paradigm of ten thousand years of leather tanning and tackles the issue of water scarcity head-on, is recognized for its innovation in the recreation category.

“ECCO started with a very simple question, how can we tan leather without water, and is it even possible? Since the company owns all of its tanneries, we recognized that we were in a unique position to make the first step in developing a more sustainable tanning process,” says Thomas Gøgisg, Head of Applied Research, ECCO. “After five years of extensive research and development DriTan was introduced and we’ve made the first solid step towards water-free leather manufacturing. Recognition such as this from Popular Science, is an incredible honor.”

Implemented at its tannery in the Netherlands DriTan will save ECCO 20 liters of water per hide, equal to 25 million liters of water annually, enough water to keep more than 9,000 people hydrated for one year according to WHO figures. DriTan will also eliminate 600 tons of sludge, or roughly 40 truckloads, per year.

“The Best of What’s New is our celebration of the most impactful and exciting innovations of the year,” says Popular Science Editor-in-Chief Joe Brown. “This expertly vetted collection lays the groundwork for a healthier, safer, and awe-inspiring future—in our homes, cities, outer space, and everywhere in between.”

Using only the moisture already present in the hides, DriTan technology produces leather that is indistinguishable from traditionally tanned leather in terms of quality, characteristics, stability and lead-time. Plans to share this water-saving technology with the leather tanning industry are already underway.

Available now, select ECCO Exostrike styles featuring the DriTan leather technology and can be found online at www.ECCO.com. The DriTan technology will also be found throughout the upcoming Spring 2020 Exohike collection.

ABOUT ECCO

ECCO is one of the world’s leading shoe brands, combining style and comfort. ECCO’s success is built on products with a great fit and top-quality leathers. ECCO owns and manages every aspect of the value chain from tanneries and shoe manufacturing to wholesale and retail activities. ECCO’s products are sold in 90 countries from over 2,200 ECCO shops and more than 14,000 sales points. ECCO is family-owned, founded in Denmark in 1963, and employs more than 21,000 people worldwide. www.ecco.com

ABOUT BEST OF WHAT’S NEW

Since 1988, the editors of Popular Science have reviewed thousands of products in search of the top 100 tech innovations of each year—breakthrough products and technologies that represent a significant advancement in their categories. Best of What’s New awards are presented to 100 new products and technologies in 10 categories: Aerospace, Automotive, Engineering, Entertainment, Gadgets, Health, Home, Personal Care, Recreation, Security.

ABOUT POPULAR SCIENCE

As one of America’s oldest and most trusted magazines, Popular Science has spent a century and a half bringing readers the most amazing innovations and discoveries. From thought leaders to skeptics, from digital natives to print devotees, Popular Science’s audience is as diverse as the stories in and on our pages. And we all have one thing in common: a boundless sense of wonder. Established in 1872, Popular Science is published by Bonnier Corp. Bonnier Corp. is one of the largest consumer publishing groups in the United States, and is the leading media company serving passionate, highly engaged audiences with more than 30 special- interest magazines and related multimedia projects and events.