Nike’s latest footwear offering is making use of upcycled sneaker parts and industrial waste.
On Monday, the footwear titan announced the release of its Nike Sportswear Recycled Canvas pack, which brings post-consumer materials from shoes and textiles to some of the company’s most recognizable silhouettes.
The Nike Air Force 1 ’07, Nike Air Max 90, Nike Air Max 95, Nike Daybreak-Type and Nike Cortez styles for men and women will all be reimagined using recycled canvas uppers made with yarn sourced from post-industrial textiles, along with Flyleather swooshes and backtabs created from at least 50 percent used leather, recycled foam tongues and laces. Dropping on Aug. 20, the sustainable styles feature canvas uppers in muted, neutral color ways.
The Cortez and Daybreak-Type styles will feature the brand’s Crater midsole foam, a compound made with 12 percent Nike Grind (a mixture of ground-up pre-consumer manufacturing scraps, used shoes, and unsellable footwear), combined with a traditional lightweight, responsive foam typically used in Nike styles. The Crater foam, which is light blue and speckled with colorful flecks of recycled material, is becoming a recognizable element in the company’s new, sustainable shoes.
The newly announced product pack is the next sustainable initiative to make waves since Nike’s celebrated Space Hippie line, which debuted in February, and the subsequent Jordan and Converse brands’ Crater collections, which utilize the same midsole foam.
The new pack is the latest step in Nike’s Move to Zero initiative, which aims to reduce the company’s carbon output and protect the planet—and the future of athletics—against the impacts of climate change.
In late 2019, the company announced plans to power its owned and operated facilities with 100 percent renewable energy by 2025, cut carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2030, divert 99 percent of its manufacturing waste from landfills through upcycling projects and other initiatives, use 1 billion plastic bottles per year for Flyknit shoes and jerseys, and create new products, playgrounds, running tracks and courts with footwear waste.