Global Forum for Sports and Environment
Nike's Award Winning Reuse-a-Shoe ProgramWinner of the G-ForSE 2001 Environmental Prize in the category of Action on Sports Equipment and the Environment, NIKE Corporation has been working since the early 1990s towards the adoption of sustainable business practices that ensure quality of life, restore the environment and increase value to customers, shareholders and business partners. In 1993 the Nike Environmental Action Team (NEAT) was formed to focus on recycling and education, introducing the Re-use-a-Shoe program in 1994 and culminating in Nike's Corporate Environmental Policy in 1998. Today Nike is working to achieve not just 100% sustainability in its design and manufacturing process, but in all aspects of its business operation. Nike's Reuse-a-Shoe program has drawn a lot of media attention and stands as an excellent model for product recycling in the sports industry. Used and defective shoes (any brand is accepted, not just Nike's) are collected, ground down, and reused as athletic surfaces or new shoes. Since 1993 Nike has given new life to more than 13 million pairs of worn-our shoes. Three basis materials can be harvested from old shoes: Rubber from the outsole, along with factory scrap, is granulated and used to make soccer, football and baseball fields and weight room flooring. Foam from the midsole is granulated and used in synthetic basketball courts, tennis courts and playground surfacing tiles, and granulated fabric from the uppers is used as padding under hardwood basketball floors. These athletic surfaces are donated to communities around the world. It takes about 3000 shoes to make a basketball court, and 100,000 go into the surface of a running track. Nike's ultimate goal is also to direct these materials into the production of new sports shoes, effectively 'closing the loop'. These initiatives made Nike a worthy recipient of the G-ForSE 2001 Environmental Prize. GSA now is accepting nominations for the G-ForSE 2003 Prize (*) and you can download an application form by clicking on the 'G-ForSE 2001' icon on this site or contacting info@gsa.or.jp. (*) NOTE: This year's prize has been renamed 'The Prince Takamado Memorial Prize', in memory of the late Prince who was a keen sportsman and supporter of the environment
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