Nike and the National Recycling Coalition have partnered to bring the Reuse-A-Shoe program to select recycling organizations in the United States. The partnership provides community members an innovative approach to recycling athletic shoes and keeping them out of the landfill. Now in it's fifth year, the Reuse-A-Shoe Partnership has expanded to 37 communities in 22 states. This innovative partnership has collected nearly a quarter million shoes with collection sites located within 15 miles of 32 percent of the continental U.S. population.
By participating in the program, you can offer your community members the opportunity to recycle more—and to do it in the way that works best for your community. You decide how to promote the program and collect the shoes. The program accepts all brands of athletic shoes, as long as they don’t contain any metal (e.g., eyelets or cleats). Once you reach the 5,000 pair minimum, Nike will arrange for shipping and will recycle the shoes into Nike Grind. This unique ground-up material is then used to resurface athletic fields, courts, tracks and playgrounds. Since the program began in 1993, some 15 million pairs of shoes have been recycled.
The National Recycling Coalition and Nike are looking for long-term, sustainable programs throughout the continental United States. Only NRC members may apply to join the Reuse-A-Shoe program. The first step is to contact Perrin Lieberman, Communications Coordinator at the NRC, to discuss the program in detail. After the call, the application must be completed and reviewed by Nike and the NRC. If accepted, insurance and the collection partner agreement must be signed before collection begins.
Participating organizations are generally one of the following:
Municipal Recycler
Waste Hauler
Local Department of Public Works
Non-profit recycling or community organization (with environmental experience)
City, County, or State Government
There are no specific requirements for the type of organization that can participate in the program. However, Nike and the NRC evaluate each organization to make sure have the following qualifications:
Experience in recycling or special collection events
Ample indoor storage space for over 5,000 pairs of shoes
Staff or volunteers to sort shoes prior to shipment
A current NRC member
Due to the popularity of Reuse-A-Shoe and to insure NRC and Nike are establishing long-term sustainable community programs, an application process is required for all interested parties.
Step 1: Preliminary Call with NRC
The first step is to discuss the full scope of the program with the NRC. The initial call will provide the details of the program; roles and responsibilities; application process; current plans; and answer any questions. NRC members can setup a call by contacting Perrin Lieberman, Communications Coordinator.
Step 2: Application
After discussing the program in detail with the NRC, the applicant must complete a short questionnaire to provide lead contacts, collection plans, potential community partners and a timeline for implementation.
Step 3: Review
NRC and Nike will review and evaluate the application to determine if your organization has the capabilities and resources to manage a long-term sustainable collection program. Applications are evaluated on local partnerships, demographics, storage capacity, community needs, long-term plans and recycling experience.
Step 4: Insurance and Collection Agreement
After application approval, the applicant will need to secure the required insurance and sign the collection agreement.
Step 5: Collection
Once all of the above steps are complete, your organization is an official collection partner and may begin promoting and collecting for the Reuse-A-Shoe program.
NRC and Nike provide each organization with communications tools to promote its collection effort, including customizable radio spots, media releases, posters, print ads and more. Once you have collected 5,000 pairs of shoes, Nike will arrange for the shoes to be picked up by Roadway and shipped free of charge to its Reuse-A-Shoe recycling facility in Wilsonville, Oregon.
Each year, Nike and NRC award a limited number of grants to participating recycling organizations to be used towards the purchase and installation of a new Nike Grind sports surface. Information on the grant program is available to our participating organizations and is available to them on the collection partner website.
For individuals interested in recycling small quantities of worn-out athletic shoes, please visit Nike's
website to find a drop-off location near you. If there is not a collection partner in your area, you can mail shoes at your own expense back to:
Nike Recycling Center
c/o Reuse-A-Shoe
26755 SW 95th Ave.
Wilsonville, OR 97070