Are there ways to recycle old athletic shoes?
— Carmen Wolf, Los Angeles, CA Probably the best way to make your worn out sneakers go the extra mile is to recycle them through Nike’s Reuse-a-Shoe program, which since 1993 has converted more than 15 million old athletic shoes (any brand, not just its own) into components in more than 170 community sport surfaces across the United States as well as in the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan. Nike separates the incoming old shoes into their component parts, and then grinds the various materials up at its Reuse-A-Shoe recycling facility in Wilsonville, Oregon. The resulting material, collectively know as “Nike Grind,” is separated into three categories: outsole rubber, midsole foam and upper fabric. Rubber from the outsole is used in the making of synthetic soccer, football and baseball fields; foam from the midsole is used for synthetic basketball courts, tennis courts and playground surfaces; and fabric from the shoes’ upper becomes padding used under hardwood basketball floors. Nik
