Nike has debuted another sustainable runner called Nike Air Zoom Alphafly Next Nature, which is said to be its most eco-friendly performance shoe to date.
As part of its ‘Move to Zero’ initiative, Nike Air Zoom Alphafly Next Nature advanced the recycled content by weight at least 50 per cent, doubling the amount compared to its Cosmic Unity model.
Air Zoom Alphafly Next Nature is an eco-friendly update version of the original Alphafly Next%, which is Nike’s popular running shoe line for long-distance.
“We don’t want to be about making shiny objects – we wanted to set our concept car as the intent for how we think about performance and sustainability,” said Rachel Bull, senior footwear product director for Nike Running.
“Putting a sustainable focus on our fastest marathon shoe also means we need all hands on deck for it to work, from our teams in design to material sourcing to manufacturing.”
The shoes are made from recycled and leftover materials to utilise waste. While the upper features Nike Flyprint, which is a 3D printed textile with 20 per cent recycled TPU, the labels and laces use recycled polyester. The shoe also includes a ZoomX midsole made of at least 70-per-cent recycled foam scraps and the ZoomX sock liner using 50 per cent recycled carbon fibre waste.
“The exciting thing about pushing performance and sustainability forward with the Alphafly Next Nature is that we know if we can do it with our most pinnacle performance product, then so much is validated to bring that technology into the rest of the line,” says Bull.
According to Bull, the Alphafly Next Nature offers another jumping-off point, and a unique opportunity for Nike to continue scaling its sustainability efforts across its running line.
