CV
Graduated in chemical engineering at the National University of Mexico and specialized on thedesigning and exploitation of scientific and technical online database, Antonio RUIZ MARISCALheld positions in the Mexican Government and in Mexican agencies (CIATEC) and worked asconsultant in his field for international and intergovernmental organizations (UNIDO, OEA) andfor the private sector in Mexico. He has been involved in diverse national and internationalresearch projects related to leather and footwear and is the author of three books and a dozenpapers. His current research is concerned with the foundations of Information Science and theMean Life of Footwear study being submitted to UITIC.
ABSTRACT
Mean life of footwear is a measure of the average life expectancy of this product. How manymonths or years a pair of footwear lasts? From cradle to grave, how much time passes fromcreation to final disposal, recycling or disintegration of a pair of shoes? Answering thesequestions, four assessing ways have been integrated in a comprehensive methodology: standardusage determination by way of surveys; laboratory testing of durability by way of accreditedtests, landfill analysis by way of sampling recovering and proper deterioration analysis and finallyrecycling data by way of surveys and studies of reprocessing footwear units worldwide. Specialnote has been taken of footwear that once discarded in an industrialized country is reused inanother developing country. From this ongoing technological development project, there areresults reported here that have taken into consideration different consumer usage patterns aswell as most of the footwear types related to specific activities: ceremonial, casual, athletic,scholar, industrial-safety, relaxing and orthopedic. Basic styles like boots and sandals areproperly considered. Finally an example is given on the integration of the mean-life footwearresults into the broader life cycle analysis and the corresponding conclusions that can be derivedfor the sustainable development of an industry facing global changes.