Corticeira Amorim has launched a new underlayment containing Nike Grind materials. The underlayment Go4cork Blend with Nike Grind is made from materials that combine cork and manufacturing scrap from the footwear industry.
The new product, produced by Amorim Cork Composites - Corticeira Amorim's business unit that develops products, solutions and applications for some of the world’s most sophisticated activities – aims to have a positive impact on the environment by creating a sustainable solution, based on circular economy principles, that combines cork with material formely considered to be manufacturing waste.
Amorim Cork Composites combines Nike Grind EVA foam from recycled scraps from Nike’s footwear manufacturing process with cork composites. The new solution is based on a formulation that aims to provide high performance of the underlayment, due to the unique characteristics of cork as a raw material: durability, comfort, impermeability, thermal, acoustic and anti-vibration insulation. According to a recent analytic study conducted by EY, Go4cork Blend with Nike Grind has a negative carbon balance of -5.5kg CO2 eq/m2. This means that the product´s associated carbon sequestration promoted by the cork oak forest exceeds the CO2 emissions from production. Go4cork Blend with Nike Grind is an excellent option for customers looking to achieve a balance between performance and environmental sustainability.
António Rios de Amorim, Corticeira Amorim’s Chairman and CEO, highlights the fact that “this product reflects a continuous investment by Corticeira Amorim in the circular economy that assumes sustainability as a commitment and one of the strategic pillars of the company's activity”. He also stresses, “in the future Amorim Cork Composites will continue to do what it does best: add value to cork in a competitive, differentiating and innovative manner”.
The environmental footprint study of the Go4cork Blend with Nike Grind underlayment was conducted by EY, using a Life Cycle perspective. It included consideration of the carbon sequestration achieved by the cork oak forest, using a cradle-to-gate approach, which contemplated the environmental impacts of all activities - from resource extraction, through production of all components, to the factory gate. The methodology of EY's studies was based on the ISO 14040/44 standards, complemented by the guidelines of the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD). The data associated to production was provided by Amorim Cork Composites. The general production processes associated to the production of raw materials, energy, transport and waste management were obtained from the ecoinvent 3.5 database.
The product Go4cork Blend with Nike Grind will be available for purchase at Home Deport USA: https://www.homedeport.com/
What began as a grassroots initiative in 1992 to repurpose shoes headed for landfills is now a global sustainability program that helps transform manufacturing scrap and end-of-life shoes into recycled Nike Grind materials. Rubber, foam, fiber, leather and textiles are collected and reused or processed into Nike Grind materials. Different Nike Grind materials are incorporated into products ranging from new Nike footwear and apparel to sports and play surfaces. It’s all part of Nike’s vision for a circular future—one where the concept of waste no longer exists.
