Crocs Inc. is upping its sustainability game — continuing with some key initiatives and adding a new take on flying discs.
The framing of Crocs’ mission is based on a focus of creating a “more comfortable world for all,” according to Deanna Bratter, Crocs’ chief sustainability and compliance officer, in a telephone interview. That focus spans across four key areas: climate, circularity, inclusivity and community.
The company’s circularity focus includes consumer consumption that incorporates innovative product design and collaboration.
The company in 2024 launched a circular shoe made with 25 percent recycled content, and it has continued with that program. This year’s Keep It Going Classic Clog saw two new colorways. Essentially, the recycled portion of the new shoe is from shreds taken from old Crocs. The shreds provide the specs that are visible in the new shoes.
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The company also expanded its Crocs take-back program across the globe, which now totals 345 stores across North America, Europe and Asia. Bratter said the program was expanded earlier this year to include all 112-Crocs owned stores in Singapore and South Korea.
According to Bratter, Crocs sorts the used shoes. “If they’re still wearable, they’re going into reuse models. And if they’re not, they’re going into recycling models,” she said.
And new for this year is a partnership with disc golf manufacturer Trash Panda, which uses Crocs shreds to create the first-ever flying discs — the sport is also known as frisbee golf — using the company’s Croslite compound mixed with 100 percent recycled TPU plastic. According to Trash Panda, there are disc golf courses in more than 32 countries. Players throw the flying disc at a target, but use rules similar to those in golf.
Other plans include recycled packaging and addressing poly bags.
“Poly bags are how most shoe, footwear, apparel companies transport products safely around the globe. And so we’ve got a really cool example of circularity, where our retail stores actually collect them,” Bratter said. “And then for the first time, we’ve been able to close the loop there, using them to create mailers. And with those mailers, people can [use them to] send us back their old shoes.”
Looking ahead, Bratter said the company is considering other ways to work with innovation partners to use the Crocs shreds. “So, we’re taking back a lot of Crocs. We want to make sure that we have outlets and pipelines for the material, both at scale and in these smaller bespoke activations like Trash Panda,” she said.
In the company’s 2025 sustainability report, it said one of its goals is to reduce absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 50.4 percent by 2032 from a 2022 base year. Crocs also has a plan to achieve net zero by 2040.
