Oregon, US – Nike has made its first foray into the fully circular shoe field, with the ISPA Link Axis. It was designed with end-of-life disassembly in mind.
Every part of the shoe can be recycled. It was designed with interlocking components to avoid the need for glue and make it easier to disassemble, and uses as few different materials as possible, the company said.
ISPA Link Axis: made
with recycling in mind
Its 100% recycled tooling was achieved using scrap airbag material, and the TPU cage itself is 20% recycled. Nike said that the mix of recycled and virgin TPU in the cage was necessary to achieve the required durability and traction, and this would not be possible with a fully recycled TPU.
The Flyknit upper is 100% recycled polyester, and was precisely engineered to fit over the outsole, in contrast to the traditional cut-and-sew method used to make the original ISPA Link shoe.
ISPA stands for Improvise, Scavenge, Protect Adapt, and is Nike’s design philosophy to challenge its creators to experiment and reimagine products.
The shoe is being produced in orange and yellow colourways. It will be available online direct from Nike on 12 September, priced at $300.
