About Reuse-A-Shoe
| Q: | What is the Reuse-A-Shoe Program? |
| A: | Established in the early 1990s, Nike's Reuse-A-Shoe program collects old, worn-out athletic shoes for recycling, transforming them into Nike Grind, a material used in creating athletic and playground surfaces as well as select Nike products. Learn more about how it works. |
| Q: | How did the Nike Reuse-A-Shoe program begin? |
| A: | Nearly two decades ago, Nike began looking for a way to reduce the company's environmental footprint and reduce the amount of shoes that ended up in landfills. Nike first started by collecting athletic shoes at key retail locations and shortly thereafter teamed up with the National Recycling Coalition to establish shoe collections in communities across the country. See Reuse-A-Shoe history for a detailed timeline. |
| Q: | How does Reuse-A-Shoe fit into Nike's Corporate Responsibility program? |
| A: | Reuse-A-Shoe stands as one of Nike's longest-running environmental community programs and is an integral part of the company's goal of closing the loop on its manufacturing process. Read more about the Reuse-A-Shoe program's mission. |
| Q: | How many shoes are recycled each year? |
| A: | More than 1.5 million pairs of post-consumer shoes are collected for recycling each year. This is in addition to thousands of tons of manufacturing scrap material that is recycled. Since the program began, we've collected more than 21 million pairs of used athletic shoes. |
| Q: | Can a guest speaker come to my classroom or organization to talk about Reuse-A-Shoe? |
| A: | Unfortunately, the Reuse-A-Shoe program doesn’t currently have enough staff or resources to arrange for speaking engagements. |
Getting Involved
| Q: | How do I recycle my shoes? |
| A: | Recycling shoes is extremely easy. Bring your old shoes to any Reuse-A-Shoe collection location, which can be found at Nike retail stores, universities, athletic clubs, special events or at one of the National Recycling Coalition centers across the country. Use our interactive map to find a location near you. |
| Q: | I don't live near a location – how can I help? |
| A: | You can mail your shoes directly to Nike's recycling facility. Unfortunately, Nike cannot pay for shipping costs. However, to ensure that the shipping and collection of shoes doesn't negatively offset the environmental benefit of recycling, we encourage you to drop off your shoes at a collection point if possible. Download a mailing label and learn more. |
| Q: | What kinds of shoes can I recycle? |
| A: | You can drop off athletic shoes of any brand for recycling. Sandals, dress shoes, boots and other types of shoes are not accepted. We also can't accept shoes containing metal such as cleats or spikes. Read more about our recycling requirements. |
| Q: | Why do you only accept athletic shoes for the program? |
| A: | Nike's recycling equipment is set up specifically for the material and dimensions of athletic shoes. In addition, shoes containing metal cannot be made into Nike Grind material for safety reasons. Learn more about Nike Grind. |
| Q: | Can anyone collect shoes? |
| A: | Yes, anyone may collect up to 10 pairs of shoes and bring them to a collection center. However, due to the capacity of our stores and our recycling facilities, we must limit the number of groups that perform larger shoe drives each year. Before collecting more than 10 pairs of shoes, you must become an approved drive organizer. Find out more and apply to host a drive. |
| Q: | Do other shoe companies recycle their shoes? |
| A: | To date, no other athletic footwear organization has created a similar program or has devoted the time and resources needed to find innovative uses for recycled footwear and manufacturing scrap materials that Nike has. Nike continues to identify and create innovative ways in which the company can minimize its environmental footprint and that of the entire athletic shoe manufacturing industry. Read more about our mission. |
| Q: | What happens to my shoes after I drop them off? |
| A: | Your shoes are transported to one of two facilities, located in Wilsonville, Oregon and Meerhout, Belgium. There, they are processed into Nike Grind. See how the recycling process works. |
About Nike Grind
| Q: | What is Nike Grind? |
| A: | Nike Grind includes three types of raw materials made from recycled athletic shoes and manufacturing byproducts: rubber from the outsole, foam from the midsole and fabric from the upper shoe. These materials are ground up and used by select companies in sport and playground surfaces, as well as in numerous Nike apparel, footwear and equipment products. Learn more about Nike Grind. |
| Q: | What parts of the shoe get recycled? |
| A: | Nearly every part of the shoe gets recycled through the Nike Grind process. The outsole becomes Nike Grind Rubber, the midsole becomes Nike Grind foam and the fabric upper becomes Nike Grind Upper. Learn more about how Nike Grind is made. |
| Q: | What are the uses of Nike Grind? |
| A: | Industry-leading sports and playground surfacing companies utilize Nike Grind to manufacture high-performance athletic surfaces such as tennis and basketball courts, running tracks, athletic fields and playgrounds. Additionally, Nike has discovered innovative uses for Nike Grind in various products such as footwear and apparel. See how Nike Grind is used. |
| Q: | Who does Nike partner with to incorporate Nike Grind into new surfaces? |
| A: | Nike works exclusively with premier surfacing partners that share in a commitment to excellence, value and sustainability. Current partners include Atlas Track & Tennis, Ace Surfaces, Playtop and Training Ground. Learn more about our partners. |
| Q: | Does a surface made with Nike Grind perform the same as any other athletic or playground surface? |
| A: | Yes, Nike Grind materials are identical to “first generation” raw materials used in synthetic sport surface manufacturing, providing the same performance as traditional materials, but with an environmental benefit as well. Nike Grind surfaces may also provide added benefits and value because the low oxidizing attributes of Nike Grind may lead to added durability in surface compositions. |
| Q: | How many shoes does it take to make a Nike Grind surface? |
| A: |
The following list shows what part of the shoe and approximately how many pairs of athletic shoes, or the manufacturing equivalent thereof, generally go into making each type of athletic surface:
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| Q: | If I recycle shoes can I get a surface? |
| A: |
Nike's vision is that the individuals and organizations that collect shoes for recycling are doing so to help reduce the number of shoes that end up landfills and to help support this important environmental program. Nike has established partnerships with leading surface providers that can install a surface containing Nike Grind; however, Nike does not donate surfaces to organizations or individuals as a result of their efforts to collect shoes.
Nike has established the Bowerman Track Renovation Program, which is a global program that provides matching cash grants to community-based, youth-oriented organizations that seek to refurbish or construct running tracks. The program distributes approximately $200,000 in matching grants each year. Recipients of a Bowerman Track Renovation grant are encouraged, but not required, to use Nike Grind technology to resurface their track. To learn more about applying for the Bowerman grant, visit http://www.nikebiz.com/responsibility/community_programs/bowerman_track_program. |
| Q: | Do you offer samples of Nike Grind materials or educational kits for classroom use? |
| A: | We do not currently offer Nike Grind samples or educational kits for classrooms. In the past we offered a recycling education program, Air to Earth, but unfortunately this program is not available at this time. We will update our website if this program or other Nike Grind samples become available. |
