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 aims to have a positive impact on the environment by creating a sustainable solution, based on circular economy principles, that combines cork with material formerly 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.
António Rios de Amorim, 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 is available for purchase at The Home Depot USA.