PLAYTOP AND NIKE GRIND – CREATING A NEW LIFE FOR OLD SPORTS SHOES

Playtop Limited, Europe’s leading supplier and installer of impact-absorbing play surfacing, has just announced that it has signed an exclusive agreement with Nike to incorporate Nike Grind rubber into its Playtop® surfacing. 

At the end of 2004, Nike launched an initiative in the UK called Reuse-A-Shoe, following the success of the programme in the US. As part of its commitment to corporate responsibility and in order to reduce unnecessary waste, Nike is collecting old sports shoes (any brand) from collection points across the UK and recycling them to create a rubber granulate called Nike Grind.  One of these collection partners is Manchester United Football Club. Trainer collection points are set up around the Old Trafford Stadium and the Club encourages fans to recycle their old trainers on match days. The programme has also been piloted in schools in London.

Playtop® will be incorporating Nike Grind rubber into its standard black surface in future. It gives the surface a speckled effect, which is usually only achieved by purchasing different coloured granulates.  Not only is this more visually attractive it can also be achieved at the same costs as the standard black surface. The Company has just completed its first installation of Playtop® with Nike Grind rubber – the pitch perimeter and tunnel at Manchester United Football Club.

Nigel Allen, managing director at Playtop Limited, commented:  “We are delighted to be involved in such a great scheme. Playtop’s aim has always been to encourage children to be active and play safely, whilst incorporating recycled materials to benefit the environment.  This partnership enhances Playtop’s corporate objectives and will ensure that old sports shoes are reused to benefit the community.”

Mandy Ayres, Corporate Responsibility Manager for Nike UK and Ireland, also commented:  “It makes sense that Nike would team up with Playtop. Both companies are dedicated to excellence in their relevant fields and both are committed to bringing improvements to the environment and local communities in which they operate.”  

Mandy added: “By recycling old sports shoes and producing Nike Grind, which then gets used in sports and play surfaces, Nike is not only benefiting the environment but also local communities.”   

Playtop Limited is one of a handful of partners worldwide that Nike has linked up with and is the only ‘playground’ company worldwide to be involved in the programme. The relationship applies not only to Playtop in the UK but also to all Playtop licensees in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.

Proceeds from the sale of Nike Grind go into the NikeGO programme – Nike’s community investment programme run to promote healthier lifestyles for children through physical activity. It does this by contributing to the cost of creating play and sports surfaces in schools and communities, particularly those in deprived areas. So kids win, the community wins and the environment wins.