ASGA Update

ASGA Update

Posted on March 26, 2024March 26, 2024 By asgaadmin

ASGA welcomes new board members Rita Kimmerle and Lindy Chin

The Australian Sporting Goods Association (ASGA) – the leading voice in the Sporting Goods industry – announces strategic changes to its Board of Directors in alignment with its commitment to representing brands, manufacturers, distributors and retailers in the sporting and active lifestyle goods sector.
ASGA proudly welcomes Lindy Chin, Human Resources Manager at Amer Sports and Rita Kimmerle, ESG Advisor and Retail and Consumer Product Strategist, to the Board.

Rita Kimmerle joins as an Independent Director, with over 20 years of experience in senior executive roles across retail, business and sustainability. Her experience in strategic decision-making in the Environment and Social Governance space will enrich the board’s expertise. With a deep understanding of ESG principles and practices, Kimmerle will bring valuable insights to the sector.
Kimmerle has played a key role in helping to establish and build ASGA’s national shoe recycling initiative, TreadLightly. As a board director, she will have the opportunity to further support the program as it continues to scale.

“It’s a great privilege to join the ASGA Board and I look forward to working closely with both the directors and members to continue to grow the Association. Drawing on my experience in developing effective sustainability initiatives and innovative solutions, I aim to strengthen ASGA’s impact and help the sporting goods sector to reduce its environmental footprint,” said Kimmerle.

With over 20 years of experience in the human resource sector, including roles at Amer Sports and the Atomic Group, Lindy Chin is well positioned to contribute invaluable executive communication and strategic expertise to the ASGA Board. Chin’s extensive background in management and operational level planning will provide the Board and members with important insight into successful leadership and business strategy.

“I look forward to joining ASGA’s Board and working closely with major brands and key leaders within the sporting goods sector, to drive positive changes on important issues impacting the industry,” said Chin.

“We are pleased to welcome both Rita and Lindy to the Board and believe that their respective areas of expertise will strengthen our Association and help to play a pivotal role in growing ASGA’s voice. With these changes to the Board, we’re building distinctive and complementary skillsets to ensure we can champion the Sporting Goods industry and the members that ASGA proudly represents,” said Ashley Reade, President, ASGA.

Posted on August 13, 2021August 13, 2021 By asgaadmin

Tackling footwear waste from sneakers to football boots

11 August, 2021

The ASGA Save Our Soles initiative – a program that recovers and recycles tired, unwanted sports shoes – has received an Australian Government grant through the National Product Stewardship Investment Fund (NPSIF), bringing the sporting goods industry one step closer to a sustainable future.

The grant will help grow the industry-funded take-back program, which was prompted by a successful launch in 2019 as a pilot program in Victoria. The initiative has already led to the collection of over 100,000 pairs of shoes for recycling – highlighting the need for a national program.

ASGA has collaborated with major sporting goods brands and renowned retailers which include Nike, adidas, Asics, Converse, Super Retail Group, Globe, JD Sports, New Balance, SportsPower, Frankie4, Brand Collective, Mizuno and Accent Group, to close the loop in the Australian footwear product life cycle chain.

Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley said the new schemes are a slam dunk for the Government, which will invest an additional $4 million in product stewardship funding.

“We think that our product stewardship programs are really ace, and that is why we have now funded 19 projects to the tune of $14.6 million and established the Product Stewardship Centre of Excellence,” Minister Ley said.

“This additional funding means we can create greater capacity in the recycling sector and with that, we will see more brands taking greater responsibility for reducing the environmental impacts of their products.”[1]

ASGA’s President, Andrew Reed, said “this is a landmark day for the Australian Sporting Goods Industry and its stakeholders, as we are now collectively able to accelerate investment towards a more environmentally sustainable future, a critical area of ASGA’s strategic focus.

The investment made by the Federal Government’s grant is a great step forward that will enable significant growth in ASGA’s Save Our Soles footwear recycling program. This will have members in a stronger position nationally to achieve their sustainability objectives, while importantly meeting Australian consumer demands, by providing an easily accessible solution to recycling their pre loved sports shoes.”

ASGA Executive Director, Shaun Bajada, is thrilled to see the sporting goods and active lifestyle industry work together to tackle this immediate waste problem.

“Our industry is committed to building a long-term sustainable footwear recycling solution that will benefit our planet and the community. I am incredibly proud of our members who have helped ASGA create a truly circular footwear recycling platform,” said Bajada.

The program aims to reduce the volume of footwear sent to landfill each year by developing a scalable model for sports shoe recycling Australia-wide. This model involves repurposing pre-loved sports shoes and transforming them into gym mats, retail flooring, playground, and sporting exteriors.

Consumers can conveniently drop off preloved shoes such as athletic lifestyle shoes, sneakers, football boots, hiking boots, golf shoes, thongs, and slides to ASGA retail partners. For more information on the program and to find your nearest collection site visit https://www.asgasosinitiative.com.au.

– Ends –

For any images, further information or to set up interviews with a brand representative, please contact Tara Ballard (contact details: 0436 330 267 tara@asga.com.au)

About ASGA

The Australian Sporting Goods Association was formed in 1981 to act as the “peak body” representing a broad spectrum of sporting and active lifestyle goods industry participants, including brands, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers.

ASGA is a leading industry voice on issues impacting the health, trade, taxation, regulation, market research, environmental and sustainability areas of the sporting and active lifestyle industries. It aims to foster the market growth, provide services, and advocate for increased participation in sport and physical activity. ASGA is a leading advocate in the industry and is at the forefront of debate and leads industry opinion.

About Save Our Soles

As Recycling Process Lead, Save Our Soles (SOS) manage all resource reclamation activities, from extraction to end product development. Save Our Soles is committed to ensuring that all Shoes that are imported into Australia and New Zealand are recycled and used in this market. Australia imports approximately 100 million pairs into Australia and New Zealand every year and we have to start reusing this valuable product rather than throwing them into landfill.

[1] https://minister.awe.gov.au/evans/media-releases/joint-media-release-new-stewards-bring-hole-one-approach-recycling

Posted on July 16, 2020August 13, 2021 By ASGA Team

The First Step Towards Sporting Shoe Sustainability: 6-Month Update

It has now been six months since the introduction of the ASGA SOS Shoe Recycling Initiative, and the results are in.

Across Australia, the disposal of pre-loved athletic shoes, via incineration or landfill, continues to represent a major environmental concern; as well as being a significant waste of reclaimable materials. As a result, the ASGA SOS Initiative was developed to provide an environmentally-conscious alternative for discarding unused footwear – through an industry-led collection, recycling and repurposing program – with the aim of closing the loop and taking a meaningful step towards sustainability.

In just six months since rolling-out the Victorian Pilot program, we’re proud to announce that the ASGA SOS Initiative has already collected over 65,000 pairs of sporting shoes that were once destined for the dump. As part of our end-to-end solution reclaiming this valuable resource, our recycling partner – Save Our Soles – will recycle over 20 tonnes of reusable components into brand new sporting products; including high-quality gym flooring (shown here – https://youtu.be/H_Pu-23xIjU).

ASGA Executive Director, Shaun Bajada, said the results of the Victorian pilot program have exceeded all expectations and are an exciting demonstration of the viability of the circular economy and the value of sustainability-focused practices in the Australian sporting goods industry;

“We could not be more proud of how our members, initiative partners and the broader sporting goods industry have come together to take real action and move the needle in tackling the problem of footwear waste. With over 65,000 pairs of shoes reclaimed across 100 collection points since January this year, the results speak for themselves; and we eagerly look forward to expanding the scope of the initiative across the rest of the country and stretching our recycling goals for next six months and beyond.”

John Elliott, director of initiative recycling partner Save Our Soles, also echoed this sentiment in light of the encouraging success of the first roll-out phase;

“I am so excited that ASGA has shown such leadership in the SOS recycling program. The sporting industry has always been a leader in the market and for ASGA to get the wholesalers and retailers together to amplify their impact into recycling footwear in Australia is a substantial step forward in showing that when we collaborate we can achieve great things. Our industry realises that we have to change our mindset with end of life product and the ASGA SOS initiative is a great example of what needs to be done.”

This resoundingly positive outcome could not have been possible without the valued support of participating brands, and ASGA would like to sincerely thank the leadership at Converse, New Balance, Globe, JD Sports, Asics, Rebel, SportsPower and adidas. The success of this combined effort – through the deployment of in-store collection bins, and the collaborative sharing and promotion of the ASGA SOS message with respective audiences – is a promising indicator for further success of the project and the nation-wide roll-out planned for the latter part of this year. ASGA would also like to thank the countless people who have chosen to drop-off and donate their shoes across our growing collection network, each and every pair of old shoes that can be given a new life counts.

As the ASGA SOS Initiative is now gearing up to move into the next stage of nation-wide deployment, we’re calling on the support of all Australian sporting goods brands – big and small – to join us in taking the next step forward into sustainability. To learn more about the program, and how to get involved, visit https://asgasosinitiative.com.au/ for more information.

ASGA Update

Posted on July 10, 2019 By ASGA Team

July 2019 Update

A lot has happened since the last quarterly update with several initiatives underway or planned that I believe will allow us to make a profound change to the sporting goods industry and our community.

Head office
We are pleased to inform you that with effect from 1 July 2019, ASGA has relocated to a new office, the main telephone number has also changed. The new office space allows ASGA to be more flexible with its rental agreement while gaining a significant saving, to be used towards membership services.

Our new office location at:
552 Victoria Street
North Melbourne
Victoria 3051

Phone number: 1300 467 106

Sustainability Committee
Held in Melbourne on March 28th, the event centred around a keynote discussion – lead by sustainability expert Nick Harford – that focused on national waste policy and the subsequent obligations of businesses in the sector. The robust dialogue between participants ranged from packaging to the treatment of soft plastics and responsible product stewardship.

Emerging from the unanimous desire to aim towards an environmentally-conscious industry, the conversation culminated with an agreement to form a specialised sustainability committee to lead the charge. This group will be responsible for providing advice and assistance to the Australian Sporting Goods Industry with regards to setting, promoting and achieving sustainability outcomes.

If you are interested in joining the committee or require more information, please do not hesitate in contacting me on 1300 467 106 or shaun@asga.com.au.

Parallel Imports
Over the last few months, members have expressed some concern over parallel imports coming into Australia. Parallel importation pits the policy interests of promoting competition and protecting intellectual property rights against each other.

The Australian Sporting Goods Association is exploring the issues associated with parallel imports by forming a working group. This is your opportunity to voice your concerns with Government Policy associated with parallel imports. To register your interest, please email me at shaun@asga.com.au.

New Blog
We have now launched an online blog with a focus on content specific to the sporting goods industry. This month we focus on Australian sports participation you can find the blog at this link.

Data Committee
We have focused on continuously improving our market intelligence services by forming data improvement committees. Our first committee looked at the Footwear report, in particular, updating the categories classification. We will see several changes implemented to the footwear report over the coming months.

We will also be forming groups to improve the Apparel, Golf and Retail report these groups will be held in August if you are interested in participating, please contact me on 1300 467 106 or shaun@asga.coma.au.

Report Dashboard
Our online market intelligence dashboard will soon be completed allowing members to quickly read market trends through snapshots, in addition to the existing detailed information. Over the next month, we will be in contact with members to arrange training on the new dashboard.

Between now and the end of this year, we will continue to develop the dashboard platform, further enabling us to streamline our market intelligence reports. I believe that our ongoing efforts to continuously improve the reports will keep our members on the forefront of the industry.

Shaun Bajada
Executive Director

ASGA Update

Posted on February 18, 2019 By ASGA Team

February 2019 Update

It’s been a pleasure to get to know our valued members over my first 6 months as Executive Director, and it’s my aim to reflect your concerns, needs and interests in the initiatives we undertake on your behalf. The beginning of 2019 has already presented exciting opportunities and sweeping changes to both ASGA and the broader industry, and I eagerly look forward to working closely with members and industry partners moving forward.

ASGA REBRANDING Following over 6 months of work, we’re proud to launch the completely revamped branding of ASGA. From the updated logo design, to the full redevelopment of the ASGA website, we’re excited to bring in the new year with a fresh perspective for our members. We invite you to explore the ASGA branding changes at www.asga.com.au.

SUSTAINABILITY PROJECTS Another new focus for 2019, we’re keenly working on numerous projects to address the immediate and important waste-management challenges within the sector. With the aim of developing an effective industry-led approach, we’ll be holding a series of forums on sustainability issues over the coming months.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT As part our renewed commitment in developing industry professionals, ASGA has partnered with team performance specialist, Paul Farina, to deliver a series of educational Masterclasses. These bespoke short-courses cover a range of topics including Leadership, Strategy and Team Performance; learn more at asga.com.au/masterclasses.

HAVE YOUR SAY It’s our mission to advocate for the interests of our membership base, and we invite you to share your thoughts regarding positive changes to be made to the Sporting Goods Industry. Please feel free to reach out via phone or email, and I will also endeavour to conduct face-to-face conversations with many of our members in the coming year.

ASGA welcomes new board members Rita Kimmerle and Lindy Chin

Tackling footwear waste from sneakers to football boots

The First Step Towards Sporting Shoe Sustainability: 6-Month Update

July 2019 Update

February 2019 Update

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