The system was developed at Loughborough University after a ten-year research program funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). After the shoes have been pre-sorted into general categories and the metals removed, they are shredded and granulated. The granules are then automatically separated into four waste streams (leather, foam, rubber, other), based on their size and weights. An air-cascade separator removes the lighter particles, and then a series of air-vibrating tables separates the rubber from the foam and leather granules.

Shoes, which can contain up to forty different types of materials, have been notoriously difficult to recycles.