MORE than 3,000 pairs of old sneakers have been dropped off at a Geelong recycling collection station in the past 18 months.<\/p>\n
Geelong\u2019s Rebel Sports store has received over one tonne of used sports shoes at their shoe drop since the program started in November 2019.<\/p>\n
Store manager Mark Ellis said it\u2019s the most of any recycling sites in the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bins are overflowing, they hold about 100 shoes and we empty them out every three days. Then they are packed up and sent off for recycling,\u201d Mr Ellis said.<\/p>\n
The Geelong Rebel Sport store recently underwent a refurbishment and part of that included flooring made from recycled sneakers.<\/p>\n
Mr Ellis said the community in Geelong had really embraced the program and it was becoming normal practice to bring in your old shoes when picking up a new pair.<\/p>\n
The Geelong program is part of the Australian Sporting Goods Association (\u2018ASGA\u2019) Save Our Soles national footwear recycling initiative which is aiming to bring about increased sustainability in the supply-chain.<\/p>\n
There are now 79 collection points across Victoria and more than 100,000 pairs of shoes \u2014 equivalent to 35 tonnes \u2014 have been recycled since the program started.<\/p>\n
ASGA executive director Shaun Bajada said the program was only getting started.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe now have more than 179 collection points nationally and are hoping to grow that to 500 by the end of 2022,\u201d Mr Bajada said.<\/p>\n
According to organisers, 24.3 billion pairs of shoes are produced worldwide each year and each pair takes at least 1,000 years to decompose.<\/p>\n
The recycled shoes are run through a shredder, metal is extracted and recycled, and then the product is mixed with other recycled rubber to create products such as rubber flooring, running tracks, and yoga mats.<\/p>\n
The whole process takes place in Australia.<\/p>\n
Save Our Soles founder John Elliott said Australia\u2019s efforts were unique.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo region in the world except Australia has got an industry solution to recycle sport shoes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best part is the consumer can see the end-of-life solution.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you go into sport stores like Rebel, SportsPower, JD Sports and others, you can drop off your old shoes and you can actually stand on the rubber matting made from your old shoes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice for people to see the whole closed loop.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MORE than 3,000 pairs of old sneakers have been dropped off at a Geelong recycling collection station in the past 18 months. Geelong\u2019s Rebel Sports store has received over one tonne of used sports shoes at their shoe drop since the program started in November 2019. Store manager Mark Ellis said it\u2019s the most of […]<\/p>\n