This Crocs clog is made from old Crocs clogs

A new shoe from Crocs looks just like the company’s classic clog, but look closely and you’ll see multicolored flecks throughout the almond-colored material. Those flecks are from old, worn-out pairs of Crocs sent back to the company through its take-back program. The new shoe, called the Keep It Going Classic Clog, is the first circular shoe from Crocs, with 25% of the material in each pair made from recycled content. “We had some conversation of, do we want to see the recycled content or not see it—because our technology allows us to go either way,” says Deanna Bratter, chief sustainability officer at Crocs. “And we decided that since we’re creating this as a proofpoint and as a moment to say, ‘Thanks for giving us back old Crocs so we can give them new life,’ we wanted the recycled content to be visible.” The circular shoe comes in that one colorway, dubbed “Moon Dust,” though because it’s made of recycled material, every pair will be slightly different. [Photo: Crocs] Crocs launched its take-back program Old Crocs New Life as a pilot in 45 stores in October 2023, and expanded it to 160 stores as well as an online mail back option in May. Returned shoes that still have a little life in them get donated to a nonprofit called Soles4Souls, while worn out, unwearable pairs are shredded for upcycling through a recycling partner. (Customers get a 10% off coupon for donating their old pairs.) The Keep it Going Classic Clog is the culmination of all that recycling. Crocs is launching the circular shoe with a limited run of 10,000 pairs; it estimates that about 3,500 old pairs of Crocs were recycled into that run. It’s limited in part because Crocs is still scaling its take-back program. “It’s also an innovation and a pilot opportunity for us to ensure that we’re getting it right,” Bratter says. The clog is now available online and in select Crocs stores—but limited to the U.S., as that’s where all of the recycled materials were collected and processed. The company will evaluate how this first launch goes to see if it can expand the shoe’s quantity and geographic reach in the future. Bratter says Crocs is looking for multiple paths to circularity, and that the company is just getting started on this journey. “We love making shoes, and we have a responsibility to consider how our products and our production methods affect society and the environment. And we believe it’s time for the conventional take-make-waste approach to go out of style, so to speak.” Earlier this month, Crocs announced it reached a separate sustainability milestone: 25% of its Croslite material is now certified bio-circular, meaning it’s made of plant-based waste products, like cooking oil. Croslite is the brand’s proprietary EVA material, used in more than 80% of total materials in all of its products (the remaining 20% is a mix of cotton, rubber, nylon, polyester, and so on). Crocs aims to have 50% biomaterials by 2030. The Keep It Going Classic Clogs starts at the same price point as a typical Croc classic clog, at $49.99. “The way that Crocs is approaching this is we want to do good together with our consumers, and part of that is keeping our products and our pricing accessible to them,” Bratter says, emphasizing that there’s no upcharge for sustainability. “We know that [sustainability] is a shared value among customers.”  Crocs is continuing to explore what else it can make from old, used pairs. Bratter says “everything is on the table,” from other products in its own lines to flooring solutions. The Keep It Going clogs can also be returned back to Crocs through its takeback program and recycled again. “We’re excited at the potential,” Bratter says. “I think there’s still learnings to do to see how many times we can continue to recycle, and we’re actively working on that.”