Abstract：Using the innovative Nike Grind technology, Nike collected surplus materials from the supply chain, incorporating them into product manufacturing and the development of sports spaces. This reflects a commitment to sustainable innovation that extends across sports and other fields. Through initiatives like the NIKE REFURBISHED program and the application of the Nike Grind technology, Nike erected 15 Nike Grind sports fields and activity spaces in China. These spaces utilized materials repurposed from 910,984 pairs of old shoes collected in the country. Since 2021, Nike partnered with Tongji University for the “Closed-loop Recycling of Used Shoes” program, working collaboratively to explore a recycling system for used shoes.

Challenge

Globally, sports shoes contribute 1.4% of annual carbon emissions, yet fewer than 3% are made from biodegradable or recyclable materials. Sports shoe composition is extremely complex — closed-loop recycling faces technical hurdles: difficulty separating diverse materials, performance degradation of sole compounds, and vast variety of upper materials. 

Disassembling a complete shoe into recoverable components demands very high technical capability. Climate urgency requires Nike to innovate across every stage — product design, manufacturing, transport, and end-of-life recovery. Beyond advancing technology, establishing circular economy recycling standards and positively influencing the sports consumer market remain Nike’s ongoing mission.

Solution

Waste recovery and recycling are central to Nike’s “zero carbon, zero waste” goal. Nike Grind technology, with nearly 30 years in the US, collects manufacturing scrap and unsellable products, processing them through sorting, disassembly, grinding, and remanufacturing into recycled materials — officially introduced to China in 2015.

In 2020, China operations saw a full upgrade: improved disassembly processes expanded recycled material applications — previously limited to rubber for running tracks, foam sole materials now also become cones and other sports products. Nike Grind has produced the Space Hippie experimental shoe line extensively using recycled materials.

Since 2015, Nike Grind has built 15 sports fields and activity spaces in China using 141 tons of recycled materials (converted from 910,984 collected old shoes), spanning Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and remote mountainous areas.

Since 2021, Nike has partnered with Tongji University’s Circular Economy Institute on a “Closed-loop Recycling of Used Shoes” program, tackling three directions: multi-component separation technology, closed-loop utilization processes, and lifecycle carbon measurement and traceability systems, advancing in three phases.

Impact & Value

Ecological Value & Key Breakthrough: Closed-loop recycling spans four process stages: secondary sorting, thermo-chemical-mechanical combined separation, recycled material modification, and recycled product manufacturing. CEC certification confirms a 700g recycled shoe’s carbon footprint at 1.86 kgCO₂e — 3.52 kgCO₂e less than a virgin shoe, a 62.48% reduction. In FY2019, 99.9% of Nike footwear manufacturing waste was reused, with over 105 million pounds of production scrap recycled.

Social Value: Since 2015, Nike China has built 154 sports spaces, prioritizing remote mountainous areas and migrant-worker schools, spreading circular sustainability to the next generation through campus and community sports fields.

Economic Value: If recycling technology were scaled nationwide for the estimated 330 million sports shoes discarded annually, approximately 40,000 tons of rubber, 90,000 tons of EVA, and 90,000 tons of upper fiber raw materials could be recovered — delivering value across upstream and downstream industries.