For Keep Australia Beautiful Week, TreadLightly is celebrating five Australian suburbs that are leading the way with shoe recycling.
Powered by the Australian Sporting Goods Association (ASGA) and Save Our Soles (SOS), TreadLightly is a national recycling initiative that collects unwanted sport and active lifestyle shoes and gives them new life in products such as retail flooring, anti-fatigue mats, gym mats, and playground surfaces.
Given shoe components can take up to 1000 years to break down, TreadLightly’s aim is to give consumers, retailers, and manufacturers an opportunity to reduce their environmental footprint.
Drummoyne in New South Wales is currently leading all Australian suburbs with 3228 pairs (1614 kilograms) of shoes recycled. Hot on its heels is the suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, which has tallied 3218 pairs (1609 kilograms).
Rounding out the top five is Maribyrnong, Victoria with 3120 pairs (1560 kilograms); Brookvale, New South Wales with 2974 pairs (1487 kilograms); and Doncaster, Victoria with 2652 pairs (1326 kilograms).
Shaun Bajada, ASGA Executive Director, said it was great to see how Australians had responded to the initiative, and encouraged the community to jump on board for Keep Australia Beautiful Week.
“Out of our top five suburbs, Victoria is the leading state when it comes to keeping Australia beautiful, followed closely by New South Wales,” he said.
“It would be great to see a little bit of friendly competition and have other Australian states and territories not too far behind.
Since its inception, TreadLightly has recycled 400,000 pairs of shoes – approximately 200,000 kilograms worth – through its more than 600 collection locations across the country.
To find your local TreadLightly collection point, visit: treadlightly.asga.com.au
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