Leather shoes are the main category of footwear products done in Portugal, representing around 75% of all products in this industrial sector. The wastes produce by the footwear industry are very aggressive for the environment and requires new approaches from all stakeholders, including sectorial organizations and politicians. This exploratory research will be done using data from the sectorial organizations APICCAPS and CTCP, data from the National Agency for Environment and also from a field research (cases of Portuguese footwear companies). If the footwear companies will perceive the competitive advantages of being “green”, then they will incorporate the design principles and they will make the sustainability be an essential part of their strategies, including new approaches according the four R’s: Reduce; Reuse; Recycle and Re-thinking or (Re)Design. This is something very important, mainly when the footwear companies are dealing with more conscious consumers and with the new environmental requirements.This work is financed by FEDER funds through the Competitivity Factors Operational Programme - COMPETE and by national funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology within the scope of the project POCI01-0145-FEDER-007136.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Millennials are defined as the group of people born between 1980 and 2000 and maintain a positive attitude in relation to sustainability. However, there is a contradiction between how Millennials think and act when it comes to sustainable consumption. It is interesting to determine which factors can influence their sustainable attitude and behaviour, and those influences can be personal and situational. Six different factors were selected from the literature review and were subject of analysis. The research method will be through three different focus groups with Millennial participants. After the analysis of the focus groups it was possible to understand that Millennials show a very positive attitude towards sustainability but this attitude is not translated in 'green' footwear purchasing behaviour.