Agenda - Environmental Policy Board - 03/05/2012

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RECYCLING ASSOCIATION of Minnesota Athletic Shoe Recycling About Athletic Shoe Recycling Athletic shoes sometimes cannot be donated to charity organizations, so what do you do then? The answer is to recycle them. Athletic shoes add bulk to landfills and have material which can be recycled and repurposed into useful items. There are several programs where you can recycle tennis shoes. The first ongoing program, Run In & RecycleTM, was started by RAM partnering with Wiper's Plus and REI stores in 2007. Wiper's Plus collects tennis shoes to be recycled into biodegradable oil spill cleanup kits. On the left is a photo of athletic shoes ready to be recycled at Wipers Plus. Other items accepted for recycling include: dress shoes, shoes with heels, leather shoes, canvas shoes, cleats, boots, winter boots, and inline skates. Please do not donate moldy, wet, or footwear with steel toes. Another program is the NIKE Reuse A Shoe program. Nike collects all brands of athletic shoes (without metal or cleats). The shoes are ground up and made into sport flooring such as basketball courts, playground flooring, tennis courts and tracks. The flooring systems are typically donated to communities. Where Can I Recycle My Old Shoes? There are many locations within the metro area to drop off old athletic shoes to be recycled by Wiper's Plus and RAM. To see the list of all items Wiper's Plus accepts for recycling and their drop off locations go to: http://www.wipersrecycling.com/items wanted . htm. Minnesota also has several locations collect shoes for the Nike Reuse A Shoe program. Go to: http://www.nikereuseashoe.com/get-involved/drop-off- locations?country=US to see the list. Recycling Association of Minnesota 852 B East Lake Street Wayzata, Minnesota 55391 Office: 952-473-0048 Website: recycleminnesota.org