Georgia Recycling Coalition Diverts 50,000 Pairs of Shoes from Landfills

Through a shoe-recycling initiative that it launched last October, the Georgia Recycling Coalition has collected nearly 50,000 pairs of shoes for recycling. The coalition has placed more than 200 shoe-recycling bins located throughout the state.

Soles4Souls collects the shoes and recycles them or provides them to those in need. It is estimated that nearly 300 million pairs of shoes end up in landfills each year.

“We have a dream at Soles4Souls to prevent even one pair of shoes from making it to the landfills,” said Wayne Elsey, Founder and CEO of Soles4Souls, in a press release. “Our friends at the Georgia Recycling Coalition set the precedent by teaching the public about the international need for shoes and how recycling your old shoes can essentially save someone else’s life.”