Sneakers Recycled into Flooring and More

Boise, ID, Apr. 15--For all they´ve done for you, those shoes deserve a better final resting place than the dump. For the price of postage, Nike will give them a new home, no matter what brand they are, according to the Idaho Statesman. The shoe company collects athletic shoes and separates them into three types of material: upper fabric, midsole foam and outsole rubber. The materials, called Nike Grind, are used in the following ways: • Nike Grind Rubber, from outsoles and manufacturing byproducts, helps make football, baseball and soccer fields, as well as golf products, weight room flooring and running tracks. (Nike licensee FieldTurf uses Nike Grind material from manufacturing byproducts exclusively.) • Nike Grind Foam, from midsoles, is used in synthetic basketball courts, tennis courts and playground surfacing. • Nike Grind Fluff, from textile and leather uppers is used for padding under hardwood basketball floors. • Some material also finds its way back into the soles of new Nike shoes. The Reuse-A-Shoe program began in 1993 and the company says it has processed more than 15 million pairs of shoes in its Wilsonville, OR recycling plant. Nike has donated more than 150 sport surfaces to communities around the world. The company has a goal to have at least one collection center in every state.