`If the Shoe Doesn`t Fit`

Burlington County's recycling program will “tread” into yet another new territory on Earth Day, when it kicks off a new program to recycle sneakers.

“You've heard the old line that ‘if the shoe fits, wear it?' Well, our new motto is if the shoe doesn't fit, recycle it,” quipped Freeholder Director Vincent R. Farias.

The sneaker recycling program will “kick off” on Earth Day, April 22, said Farias, and will run until May 28, 2004, and hopefully, will raise public awareness of recycling, especially with young people.

Farias said the County, will, in fact, be targeting schools where students discard many old sneakers as part of their ritual end-of-the-year emptying of lockers.

“The sneaker program is one more way to promote recycling and save landfill space while putting old shoes to use instead of into trashcans,” Farias said.

The County plans to send information packets to schools next week. School can collect sneakers and deliver them to a central drop-off site Monday through Friday from 9am to 3pm at the Robert C. Shinn, Jr. Recycling Center (Occupational Training Center), 130 Hancock Lane, Westampton.

The sneaker initiative is part of the national “Reuseashoe” Program sponsored by Nike and the Association of New Jersey Recyclers (ANJR).

ANJR presented the program Wednesday during its annual meeting at the New Jersey EcoComplex in Mansfield.

Athletic shoes are ground up and used to make athletic field, tennis and basketball courts, tracks and playgrounds.

Sneakers should be collected in clear plastic bags, no boxes. No metal, zippers, cleats, spikes or lights. No mud or shoes tied together.

The Occupational Training Center will transport the sneakers to the state's central collection facility in Newark by June 6.

Schools that join the program may deliver the shoes by calling the Occupational Training Center at (609) 267-6665 ext. 160 at least three working days in advance.

For more information, call the Burlington County Office of Recycling at (609) 499-1001.

The national websites are www.nikereuseashoe.com and www.anjr.com.

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Author: Press Release