Like the athletes* it serves, Nike is always in pursuit of progress. And in our era of climate crisis, progress means creating products and methods that have less environmental impact, and eventually, no impact or even a positive impact — a circular future.
To make that future a reality, Nike’s circular vision is rooted in bold, science-based targets built on more than 30 years of exploring ways to reduce impact on the environment. This deep commitment to sustainability is driven by the belief that protecting the future of sport means no less than protecting the future of the planet.
Why a Circular System Is the Ultimate Challenge
Imagine an industrial value chain — that includes product design, materials, manufacturing, shipping, retail and product take-back — with no beginning or end. Waste is a main source for new materials, virgin materials are bio-based, and the manufacturing process itself creates zero carbon emissions. Product is created not only without impact on the environment, its creation uses waste that would have gone to a landfill. And every shoe, shirt, short and pant is designed with the future in mind, anticipating how it will be broken apart or transformed into something still valuable at the end of its useful life.
This is a true circular system, and it’s NIKE, Inc.’s long-term aim.
To get to that goal, the company views designing for circularity as the sum of many deliberate, interconnected choices. “By focusing on progress and not perfection and by making better choices, we embrace the chance to reconsider our craft in hope that it forms a groundswell of change,” says John Hoke, Nike Chief Design Officer.
That means sourcing better materials and rethinking design methods, manufacturing processes, and how Nike gets products back from athletes to refurbish or recycle them.
If it sounds overwhelming, it’s because it is. And even with an enterprise of 75,000-plus employees and global partners working together, Nike doesn’t have everything figured out yet. But it knows how to progress forward. “We are galvanizing and empowering everyone to make smarter changes, and we’re building diverse, inclusive teams to drive relentless innovation for athletes and the planet,” says Noel Kinder, Nike Chief Sustainability Officer. “That step-by-step, holistic approach is the key to keep moving toward a circular future,” says Kinder. “And the creative innovations it yields are in full swing.”
How a Circular Vision Transforms the Company
Inspiring a Planet-Protecting Ethos Move to Zero is NIKE, Inc.’s journey toward zero carbon and zero waste to help protect the future of sport. It’s foundational for realizing the company’s vision of circularity, and it works to both minimize the company’s environmental footprint as a business and maximize avenues for positive impact as a brand. Move to Zero includes commitments such as eliminating single-use plastics; investing in new material-development programs, which diverts an average of 1 billion plastic bottles annually from landfills and waterways (and helps to make beautiful football kits in the process); and creating renewable-energy-powered logistics centers, a journey that is both marathon and sprint.
Enabling Breakthrough Performance Product — While Reducing Impact on the Planet Across Converse, Jordan and Nike, teams are sweating product details and enacting creative solutions at all levels of creation. Considerations are made for trims, dye techniques, pattern efficiencies and material sourcing. The evolution of these sustainable choices is visible, from the revolutionary Space Hippie collection, made of scrap material from factory floors, to last fall’s debut of the Air Zoom Alphafly Next Nature, Nike’s pinnacle running shoe transformed to be its most sustainably minded sneaker. Now, Nike has scaled these innovations with powerful effect in the new 2022 Move to Zero collections, a trove of dozens of iconic products all made with sustainable materials and methods.
Extending the Life of Materials and Products Across the globe, Nike is piloting new programs and expanding existing ones to enable consumers to recycle and refurbish their products. All are key to meeting Nike’s 2025 target to donate, refurbish or recycle 10 times more product than it did in 2020, and to work toward the company’s circular end goal.
Scaling Innovative Sustainable Materials This year, 2022, marks the 30th anniversary of Nike Grind, which is made of manufacturing scrap and end-of-life footwear that’s used to make not only Nike products, but also playgrounds, running tracks and items like phone cases and carpet padding. The high quality of Nike Grind makes it ideal for other companies to use. One example is Home Depot gym tiles, made with at least 75 percent recycled rubber including at least 37 percent Nike Grind. In Nike’s 2021 fiscal year, this single product recycled more than 750,000 pounds of rubber waste. Nike was recently named Home Depot’s Environmental Partner of the Year, a testament to Nike Grind’s value.
Transforming Our Supply Chain Collaboration with Nike’s suppliers has accelerated its journey toward a circular future. Trust, built over decades of working together, has encouraged partners to embrace new standards for recycling and routinely create fresh approaches to solve recycling challenges. “When you think about the scale of the manufacturing partners we work with, they are huge businesses in their own right,” says Marine Graham, VP of Responsible Sourcing and Manufacturing. “The cool part is that we’re actually changing the way our suppliers do business, not only for their Nike portfolio, but for their entire enterprise.”
Initiating Dialogue Among the Global Design Community In 2019, Nike created the workbook “Circularity: Guiding the Future of Design” and nikecirculardesign.co to engage with and challenge designers to create for a circular future. The guide presents 10 principles to tear down norms and reconsider the process of craft and design. “As creators of products, we have to ask ourselves, How we can move from being ‘less bad’ to actually doing good?” says Seana Hannah, VP, NXT Sustainable Innovations. “We have to explore new solutions and partner in unexpected places to create products that last longer and are designed with their end in mind. We have to reinvent, innovate and source materials that make our circular vision a reality.” The hope is that the workbook inspires considered choices that shift the world forward.
Partnering Across the Industry All of this work is amplified when NIKE, Inc. joins forces with other apparel and footwear companies. As a collective, companies can more effectively call for new recycling innovations or explain the value of recycled feedstock, like Nike Grind, to governments that restrict the transportation of waste and aren’t sure if recycled feedstock is useable. Collaboration also unlocks a better consumer experience. As the industry aligns standards, athletes can access more accurate information and better services. And as Nike accelerates its reach and impact, it helps protect the world’s playground.
What’s Next
“We’re constrained only by the pace that we and our industry can dream up materials to move us farther,” says Kinder. “How quickly can we develop additional alternatives to leather, alternatives to cotton? How can we work with our key supply-chain partners to create and mandate manufacturing methods that facilitate lower-carbon or lower-energy production? Right now, materials account for 70 percent of our carbon footprint. This is one of the reasons we’re investing heavily in the materials research and innovation space — we know it’s the single biggest unlock to us achieving our goals.”
Already, Nike has definitive numbers from its 2021 fiscal year to show its success: Recycled polyester now makes up 38 percent of Nike footwear’s total polyester usage, double what was used in the 2020 fiscal year; Nike recycled more than 55 percent of its manufacturing scrap across footwear and apparel, thanks to increased demand from local recycling markets and global Nike Grind customers; and the company donated more than 1 million items through its donation channels, double the number from 2020.
To be sure, there are real and myriad challenges to building a circular system and economy. Global logistics are a complex web. Recycling isn’t perfect. And consumers need accurate, easy-to-access information so they feel empowered about what circularity is and how they can contribute.
Still, Nike believes driving toward a truly circular system is its role and responsibility. With each stride, it builds the innovation and the operational and collaborative muscles needed to solve the challenges. Driven by the ingenuity and grit of Nike’s teams, the company is committed to keep moving toward this circular future.
*If you have a body, you’re an athlete.
Read More: Sustainability Company Primer