Who we are

esosport was founded in 2009, based on an idea by Nicolas Meletiou, Managing Director of ESO and passionate runner, during a phone call with friends Fulvio Massini, a sports trainer, and Marco Marchei, a former marathon runner. The conversation revolved around the proper disposal of worn-out sports shoes.

Reflecting on their end, these objects—already worn out and stored in the closets of many sports enthusiasts—Nicolas Meletiou, thanks to his experience with ESO in the recovery, disposal, and valorization of office waste, first envisioned the possibility of recycling shoes. Thus, an incredible opportunity was created to combine a love for the sports world with solid expertise in waste management.

The birth of esosport fully aligns with the philosophy of the parent company’s “Recycling Cycle,” which is based on the awareness that the environment is a valuable asset to be preserved and that waste can turn from discard to resource, minimizing its environmental impact and, why not, giving it a second life.

For esosport, minimizing landfill waste becomes a real ecological challenge, in addition to being an innovative service—first and unique of its kind in Italy and Europe.

Recycle your shoes, repave your way

In 2017, Nicolas Meletiou’s passion for sport grew: due to an injury sustained during a race, he was forced to take a break from running and discovered a new passion—cycling. He decided to embark on a two-wheeled journey, and at some point along the route, he got a flat tire. After replacing the inner tube, he asked himself, “Where do I throw this away?”

The first bicycle shop he approached refused to accept the waste, saying they didn’t know how to dispose of it properly.

This difficulty in correctly disposing of this type of waste inspired the idea for the esosport bike service, aimed at sporting goods stores, bike-sharing programs, and municipalities to support them in managing and disposing of used inner tubes and tires.

Your wheels never stop

It thus adds another piece to the eco-sustainable vision of sport.

“It is with pleasure that we have granted the sponsorship of our Federation to the esosport bike project,” says Renato Di Rocco, in the photo with Nicolas Meletiou, President of the Italian Cycling Federation. “We are convinced of the necessity of this initiative, which has so far been absent in Italy. Cycling is a perfect vehicle for conveying messages of environmental sustainability, like that of esosport bike, which we hope will spread as quickly as possible.”

In 2018, the project was expanded with the balls version: “Return your ace” is the tagline of esosport balls, created for the collection and recycling of used tennis balls at clubs, specialized stores, and sports facilities with tennis courts.
Considering that a mid-sized tennis club consumes up to about 700 balls per month, it is a duty to find a new way to dispose of this waste for environmental protection.

esosport run, esosport bike, and esosport balls are clear examples of a new economic model—circular economy—that sees the philosophy of the “Recycling Cycle” as the only way forward to preserve the environment and to transform waste from discard into a resource, minimizing their environmental impact.

The core idea of esosport is to create new projects using materials obtained through the recycling process of shoes, tennis balls, tires, or bike inner tubes: the secondary raw material produced from processing, which can be used to create playground surfaces or serve as a base for athletics tracks.

To make our initiative tangible and circular, we launched “Il Giardino di Betty”—a playground dedicated to Elisabetta Salvioni Meletiou, wife of Nicolas Meletiou, who passed away prematurely—and “La Pista di Pietro”, a 60-meter athletics track in memory of the great athlete Pietro Mennea, a project involving the active participation of his wife, Manuela Olivieri.

Our company donates the secondary raw material obtained from collection and recycling of sports equipment free of charge to public administrations through the GOGREEN association—onlus. To date, numerous “Betty’s Gardens” have been created throughout Italy, and we are close to constructing the first “Pietro’s Track.”

Choosing to join esosport means not only selecting a service capable of solving waste management problems but also embracing a new eco-sustainable vision of sport, which cares about the well-being of society and the environment.