WATCH: How shoes meant for recycling by US firm Dow ended up at an Indonesian flea market

In July 2022, news agency Reuters donated 11 pairs of shoes to a recycling program spearheaded by the Singapore government and American petrochemicals giant Dow Inc. Five months down the lane, a Reuters reporter found one of the pairs at an unexpected place- a flea market in Indonesia. The agency had fitted the shoes with Bluetooth tracking devices. The shoes were found on the Indonesian island of Batam- far from the place where it was donated which is Singapore.

How a tiny location tracker hidden in the sole of an old Nike sneaker allowed @Reuters to find the footwear at an Indonesian flea market months later. The shoes were meant to be recycled in Singapore, in a program backed by chemicals giant Dow https://t.co/HpqJ5A43Ze pic.twitter.com/lshgfhrwJ1

— Reuters (@Reuters) February 25, 2023

According to a Reuters report, the initiative by the Singaporean government and Dow promised to harvest the rubberized soles and midsoles of donated shoes, then grind down the material for use in building new playgrounds and running tracks in Singapore. Now, the Reuters investigation has found that the program has fallen short of its goals. According to the report, the aim was to follow a donated shoe from start to finish to see if it did, in fact, end up on new athletic surfaces in Singapore, or at least made it as far as a local recycling facility for shredding. None of the 11 pairs of footwear donated by the news agency were turned into exercise paths or kids’ parks in Singapore, the report added. With inputs from Reuters Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.