Despite the intense scrutiny and brutal attacks for its global supply chain management policies and priorities fifteen years back, NIKE Inc. is now one of the leading global sustainable brands with its sustainable innovations. [7] Let’s have a look on the four sustainable innovations.

INNOVATION # 1: NIKE Flyknit – Strong, Lightweight, Less  Waste

The first sustainable innovation is NIKE Flyknit. First introduced in 2012, NIKE Flyknit is a technology which precisely engineers yarns and fabric variations to only where they are needed, formfitting the virtually seamless upper. It uses ultrastrong yarn knit into different textures to remove any excess weight, making it much lighter. Its single strand construction drastically reduces waste and materials that Flyknit Racer has 80% less waste in the upper than a traditional-profile running shoe.

INNOVATION # 2: NIKE Materials Sustainability Index

NIKE footwear and apparel designers access to more than 80,000 materials from 1,500 suppliers and selecting the sustainable materials were extremely complex. Believing materials drive the majority of environmental impacts in the value chain, NIKE decided to develop and share its own material evaluation tool called NIKE Materials Sustainability Index (NIKE MSI).

NIKE MSI scores individual materials according to multiple criteria including: supplier practices, publicly disclosed information, and environmental factors of waste, chemistry, water, energy and greenhouse gases. NIKE made it easy to access by both consumers and suppliers within the industry via the MAKING App, available to download on iPhone.

INNOVATION # 3: The MAKING App – Making Better Things, Making Things Better

Powered by NIKE MSI data, MAKING App is readily available for designers to make better choices in the materials that they use. Here are links to see how MAKING App works: MAKING OF MAKING, MAKING APP, and MAKING MATTERS.

INNOVATION # 4: ColorDry

In 2013, NIKE opened a water-free dyeing facility, featuring high-tech equipment that eliminates the use of water and process chemicals from fabric dyeing. This new technology is called ColorDry, an revolution in manufacturing that used recycled CO2 as a more sustainable alternative considering the traditionally dyeing process needed approximately 30 litres of water to dye a single t-shirt.

It is interesting to see how NIKE has evolved from past to present as one of the leading sustainable companies with its sustainable innovations. With ongoing research and development of each, let’s look forward to see the good impacts NIKE creates.

References:

[1] http://about.nike.com/pages/sustainability

[2] http://www.nikeresponsibility.com/innovations/flyknit

[3] http://www.nikeresponsibility.com/innovations/nike-colordry

[4] http://www.nikeresponsibility.com/innovations/nike-materials-sustainability-index

[5] http://www.nikeresponsibility.com/innovations/reuse-a-shoe

[6] http://www.nikeresponsibility.com/innovations/using-waste-for-good

[7] http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/supply_chain/swoosh-and-sustainability-nikes-emergence-global-sustainable-brand