Is sustainable design effective? An empirical life cycle assessment of environmental impacts in basketball footwear production

The footwear industry is characterized by labor-intensive and resource-consuming production. Sustainable design provides a pathway for reducing the environmental burdens of footwear manufacturing, yet its benefits may vary across production processes and impact categories. This study conducts a high-resolution cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment of basketball footwear by linking upstream material acquisition with seven manufacturing processes and compares eight prospective sustainable design scenarios. Environmental hotspots are evaluated using ReCiPe 2016 at midpoint and endpoint levels. Results indicate that raw material acquisition dominates impacts related to toxicity, land use, and resource consumption, while manufacturing dominates global warming potential (GWP) and water consumption potential. At the process level, blanking of upper materials and sole manufacturing are major contributors to endpoint damage, mainly due to textile inputs, petroleum-based polymers, and manufacturing energy demand. Scenario analysis reveals that the reduction scenario (S7), which combines a 3D-printed TPU upper, adhesive-free sole joining, and packaging reduction, provides a relatively balanced environmental response, reducing GWP from 6.44 to 5.90 kg CO₂-eq without the pronounced cross category burden increases observed in the combined scenario (S8). Although S8 achieves the greatest GWP reduction (5.41 kg CO₂-eq), it increases freshwater eutrophication and ecotoxicity burdens. Monte Carlo simulation confirms the robustness of these carbon reductions and the persistence of several trade-offs. These findings highlight the importance of evaluating sustainable design across multiple environmental impact categories rather than carbon reduction alone. High-resolution modeling can support process optimization and sustainable design decisions through precise identification of environmental hotspots.