Nike today announced that it has joined Ant Group’s Green Energy Initiative and launched an official mini program on Alipay, the leading digital open platform, to encourage more consumers to recycle worn-out shoes.

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Students play basketball on Nike Grind court (Photo: Business Wire)

Chinese consumers can search the mini program “Recycle-A-Shoe” in the Alipay app and have worn-out Nike shoes collected for recycling. The shoes will then be dismantled and re-processed to make sustainable sport courts through Nike Grind technology. By doing so, consumers will receive virtual green energy points in Alipay Ant Forest, a green mini program. These green energy points can be used to support tree planting, ecological restoration or bio-diversity conservation projects.

“In China, Nike continues to strive toward its goal of ‘Move to Zero’ and encourages the public to take part in environmental protection. The innovative cooperation with Ant Group allows Nike’s Recycle-A-Shoe program to reach more consumers through digital solutions on the Alipay platform and incorporates Nike’s sustainability efforts into daily life, which is our long-term commitment,” said Stanley Chang, Vice President of Operations and Logistics of Nike Greater China.

“In the face of increasing challenges brought on by climate change, the private sector needs to encourage more environmental-friendly actions among consumers while committing themselves to reducing carbon emission in their business operations. We are delighted to partner with Nike to promote low carbon actions and better protect the environment through innovative solutions in recycling,” said Cheng Jiang, General Manager of Social Good Department, Ant Group.

Nike’s global “Recycle-A-Shoe” program has been active for 30 years. More than 30 million pairs of worn-out shoes and over 120 million pounds of footwear factory materials have been recycled and transformed into innovative sports products, such as basketball courts, soccer fields, running tracks, yoga equipment and interior decoration.

Launched in 2016, Alipay Ant Forest is a green initiative that encourages users to adopt low carbon activities in their daily life, which has attracted over 650 million participants since its inception. Users can gain green energy points for low carbon actions, including biking to work instead of driving and paying electricity bills online instead of offline.

Ant Group’s Green Energy Initiative, which features green energy points in Alipay Ant Forest, is open to brands that would like to offer their customers more incentives to take green actions. As of August 2022, the initiative has attracted participation from more than 500 brands across multiple sectors including travel, packaging and home appliance manufacturing.

About Move to Zero

In its commitment to the long-term plan of sustainable development, Nike launched "Move to Zero" in 2019 with the aim of operating with zero carbon emissions and zero waste. This initiative has been implemented across all aspects of design, manufacturing and transportation. Significant progress has also been made in Nike moving closer to its ambitious goal of “Move to Zero”. In September (2022), Nike announced the launch of the CLC Wind Runner Project in the China Logistics Center. After its completion and implementation in early 2023, the Nike China Logistics Center will be operating with 100% renewable energy. In regard to sustainable product innovation, Nike has launched a subversively innovative platform - Nike Forward, which will bring great changes to the apparel industry.

About Alipay

In the evolving digital era, Alipay has transformed from a payment tool of public trust to an open platform for businesses, institutions, service providers, and other partners. Business partners in various industries utilize Alipay to offer consumers a safe and convenient payment experience. Through digital operation, business partners can communicate and provide various commercial and daily life digital services for their clients via Alipay mini programs, lifestyle accounts, and IoT, along with other tools available. Currently, there have been over 80 million businesses serving more than 1 billion consumers via Alipay’s open platform services.

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