Crocs today announced the Keep It Going Classic Clog, a new limited-edition shoe made from 25% post-consumer recycled content sourced from old Crocs.
The old shoes were collected through the brand’s “Old Crocs. New Life” consumer takeback program. The initiative is a step forward for the Broomfield, Colorado-based company’s “circularity goals.” As part of the initiative, customers returned old Crocs shoes via a mail-back kit or retail drop-off for the company to repurpose. In exchange, customers received a 10% discount on a future purchase.
The product launch comes two weeks after Croc announced it achieved 25% bio-circular content across its Croslite portfolio, which includes the company’s Classic Clog and most of the brand’s shoes.
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According to the company, Croslite accounts for more than 80% of Crocs’ total footwear material use. The company sources repurposed bio-based waste from other industries to make the material. Croslite is ISCC PLUS certified, a voluntary program applicable to the circular economy for food, feed, chemicals, plastics, packaging, textiles and renewable feedstock derived from a process using renewable energy sources.
Using bio-circular content, Crocs hopes to give a second life to plant-based byproducts that would have otherwise ended up in the waste stream.
The company launched the ‘Old Crocs. New Life’ pilot program last October, and expanded it nationwide in May. The brand’s priority is to keep shoes on feet for as long as possible, so gently used Crocs that are still usable are donated to Soles4Souls, an international non-profit organization. Crocs that aren’t usable are processed, sorted and deconstructed into post-consumer recycled materials.
In 2021, the company set a goal to reach 50% bio-circular content within its Croslite material by 2030. The brand is on track to achieve this goal in just three years, reaching 25% this August. As a result of the initiative, Crocs saw a 3% reduction in absolute emissions in its overall company carbon footprint last year and a 6.1% reduction in emissions per pair of Classic Clogs compared to 2021.
Sourcing more sustainable materials is critical for the company, which hopes to be net zero across all emissions by 2040. The company’s previous goal was to be net zero by 2030, but last year’s ESG report says its initiatives were “neither fast nor vast enough.” Part of the issue stems from the company’s acquisition of the HEYDUDE brand, which raised its greenhouse gas emissions baseline. Crocs acquired the Italian brand in 2021 for $2 billion in cash and $450 million in Crocs shares.
The Keep It Going Classic Clog features an intentional design, including visible specs of recycled shred. While each clog has a general color, “Moon Dust,” each pair is unique, and the color may vary slightly from others—the shoes retail for $49.99.
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