Definition: A part of Nike's Reuse-A-Shoe program. Started in 1993, the purpose of the program is to eliminate waste and close the loop on Nike's product lifecycle by collecting post-consumer, non-metal-containing athletic shoes of any brand, including Nike shoes that are returned due to material or workmanship defects.
Once collected, the sneakers are ground up and separated into three distinct types of material:
-Rubber from the outsole
-Foam from the midsole and
-Fabric from the shoe's upper.
Nike and its partners take the granulated rubber and create soccer, football, baseball fields, weight room flooring and running tracks. They use the granulated foam for synthetic basketball courts, tennis courts and playground surfacing tiles. The granulated fabric from the shoe uppers becomes the padding under hardwood basketball floors. It is also used in the manufacture of Nike sneakers.
Examples: The newest Air Dunks released last month utilized Nike Grind on the outsoles of the sneaker.
