Nike opens sustainable distribution center

Sports brand Nike opened its new Belgian distribution center, not only designed to be more efficient but also more sustainable. This distribution center will take care of everything related to Nike.com, Nike retail and its wholesale partners in Europe.

100 % renewable energy

“We ship more than 1 billion packages filled with shoes, clothing and sporting equipment every year. This requires a very flexible, innovative and sustainable supply chain”, according to Nike Chief Operating Officer Eric Sprunk. “With the expansion of our European Logistics Campus, we clearly display our ambition to ship our entire range of Nike products to the customer even faster.”

The new distribution center gets 100 % of its energy consumption from 5 renewable sources: wind, solar power, geothermic power, hydro-electric and bio mass. There are 6 wind turbines on site, which supply 5,000 families’ worth of power and enough solar panels to fill 3 football fields.

To ease the burden on the roads, 99 % of its cargo comes by water, removing 14,000 trucks from the road on an annual basis. 95 % of its waste is also recycled locally: one example is that the pavement around the site consists entirely of recycled shoes.

A high number of windows and automated led lights have to limit its lighting energy bill.