'Overtime' for old sports gear

"People have come up with all different uses," including permanent flower-holders in cemeteries, says Jay Bhatt, general manager for the company's technology products division.

Perhaps the most ambitious projects under way involve the last thing most people would consider recycling: athletic shoes. Since 1986, a group called Shoes for Africa in Boulder, Colo., has collected more than 20,000 running shoes for poor athletes and children around the world.

"They go anywhere they're needed," including Latin America and even Indian reservations and homeless shelters in the US, says Michael Sandrock, an author of several running books and the group's founder.

Of course, the shoes should be new or near new. If they don't pass the smell test, consider recycling them with Nike. The Beaverton, Ore., company has spent the past decade grinding up shoes and donating the material to make running tracks and other sports surfaces.

Now, it's teaming up with the National Recycling Coalition to expand its "Reuse-A-Shoe" program. Consumers are able to recycle whatever athletic shoes they have, even if they're not Nike brand.

"It's been overwhelming - the response," says Kate Krebs, executive director of the recycling coalition, in Washington, D.C. Although the program is starting with 25 or so recycling programs around the country, more than 150 others are clamoring to join. "Nike is the first apparel sports company to step out on this issue." Unlike other industries, she says, it's adopting a "life cycle" approach without the threat of government action.

Every time a recycling program collects 5,000 shoes, Nike arranges transportation to its recycling facility. The ground-up shoes produce three materials: a fluffy substance from the fabric of the upper shoe, a bouncy composite from the midsole, and rubber from the outsole. Firms use the materials to create everything from indoor soccer fields to basketball courts.

So far, consumers can't recycle athletic shoes as easily as newspaper and glass. In Portland, Ore., for example, they have to drop them off at one of four city or suburban locations. Curbside recycling of shoes "is not going to happen tomorrow," says Bruce Walker, Portland's manager of solid waste and recycling. "But it's something that's on the horizon."

Since sporting-goods recycling is still in its infancy, most used gear can only be resold or donated to a local charity. But here are some other possibilities for specific products:

Soccer balls

World Vision Send new or gently used deflated balls via UPS to:

Get a Kick Out of Sharing International Distribution Center 210 Overlook Drive Sewickley, PA 15143.

Download two copies of the donation confirmation form from www.worldvision.org/soccerballs (click on "Yes, I want to help"), include one form in the package and e-mail the other to: mlane@worldvision.org.

Athletic shoes

Shoes for Africa Send new or gently used shoes to:

Shoes for Africa P.O. Box 2223 Boulder, CO 80306

Nike Reuse-A-Shoe
Send athletic shoes ONLY:

Nike Recycling Center c/o Reuse-A-Shoe 26755 SW 95th Ave. Wilsonville, OR 97070 (Nike will not accept shoes delivered with postage due)

Page: 1 | 2