Finger Lakes Runners Club Shoe Recycling Program

Shoe Recycling Program

As of March 2008 the pilot program for shoe recycling ended. The program was sponsored by the Tompkins County Solid Waste Division and they ran it for close to two years. They sorted and transported their collection of athletic shoes to Monroe County who participates in the Nike ReUse A Shoe Program.

The bottom line is that the bare bones cost to recycle these shoes is too high (around 1,000 per ton compared to the cost of garbage which is 80 per ton). This figure does not include storage, staff time, utilities, or transportation costs.

Going forward, TCSWD is willing to explore a couple options in regards to shoe recycling. In the meantime, community support is welcomed if you can drop a line or call to express your interest. TCSWD has been supportive and they are doing their best to explore ways to minimize cost.

Thank you for the support! I'll send an update when there is one.
Diane Yates
Finger Lakes Running Club Member

For other shoe programs, please review the list below until the Ithaca area can find an alternate solution:

1. Finger Lakes Running Club will continue to accept donations of re-wearable running shoes.

2. Finger Lakes Running Company: in conjunction with FLRC, will continue to accept donations of re-wearable running shoes.

3. Rochester: Monroe County Department of Environmental Services (MCDES) is participating in a program with the National Recycling Coalition and Nike, Inc. that will allow area residents to recycle their unwanted athletic sneakers instead of throwing them in the garbage. Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe Program recycles and grinds athletic footwear and turns them into sports surfaces.

Sneaker collection barrels are located at 444 E. Henrietta Road (Building 15) in both public access doors. The doors are open to the public 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Residents making appointments (585 760-7600 Option 3) to bring unwanted paint, chemicals, etc. to the county’s Household Hazardous Waste Facility may also bring in sneakers for recycling. The program accepts sneakers (any brand) only­no shoes, boots, sandals. The sneakers must not be the light-up variety or contain any metal (eyelets, grommets, spikes, cleats, etc.) and cannot be tied together or in plastic bags.

MCDES will also hold sneaker collection drives at the Monroe County Resource Recovery Facility and at area schools. For more information call 585 760-7526.

Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe program started in 1993 and has recycled over 16 million pairs of sneakers. The footwear is separated into three main materials­upper fabric, midsole foam and outsole rubber­and then ground up. Nike has successfully found constructive uses for all of the materials from these post-consumer and defective athletic shoes.

4. Check out the Nike ReUse A Shoe Program site for other drop offs in other cities/states.