It’s a new milestone unlocked for the casual footwear brand, Crocs this month having reached 25% bio-circular content in its Croslite material – a material used across the majority of the Crocs product portfolio.
In fact, Croslite now accounts for more than 80% of Crocs’ total materials, including those used within its popular Classic Clog. What this means is that Crocs has become among the first mainstream, high street footwear brands to incorporate a new, bio-based material within the production of its main collection.
It’s an achievement the Crocs team is, understandably, very pleased with, considering the brand has also maintained a price point which means the roll out of the bio-circular content across its portfolio comes ‘at no additional charge’ for customers.
So, it’s all looking good so far… With the exception of one question: What on earth does bio-circular mean?
Crocs’ new material announcement has been the focus of much attention across its social channels, having piqued the interest of many within the circles of product and materiality circularity who have been quick to raise similar questions in an attempt to unpick at any deeper context.
In a press release issued by Crocs, the term ‘bio-circular’ is defined as a material produced using plant-based byproducts that would have otherwise ended up as waste, such as cooking oil from the food industry. Crocs suggests that in utilising this material it is reducing its ‘already low carbon footprint’ by opting for materials that are “less emissions-intensive than their virgin, fossil-fuel based counterparts.”
Back in 2021, Crocs set a goal to reach 50% bio-circular content within its Croslite material by 2030. In the three years since, the brand’s confidence in that ambition is compounded by having achieved 25% this August. As a direct result of this, the company states, Crocs saw a 3% reduction in absolute emissions in its overall company carbon footprint, as well as a 6.1% reduction in emissions per pair of Classic Clogs compared to a 2021 baseline.
Yet many are still left questioning just what the ‘circular’ part of the term bio-circular is referring to. Are there systems in place, asks one commentator, to recapture material when it has reached the end of its useful life among its customer base?
According to Deanna Bratter, chief sustainability officer at Crocs Inc, the material itself is “certified by a credible independent third-party (ISCC) both as a bio-based input as well as from circular (repurposed byproduct or waste) sources.” She explains that it is not only the material but the factories Crocs uses in the production that “are a part of the whole certification process.”
“As we address our ambition around circular models of production and consumption, we believe both closed loop and open loop cycles are critical components of successful circular systems,” Deanna explains. “We are actively addressing many paths including bio-circular materials, consumer takeback, innovation in next life materials, upcycling, and downcycling.”
Citing the ISCC definition of ‘bio-circular” she goes on to explain that these are “materials at the beginning of the supply chain considered as a waste or processing residue that are not landfilled or energetically used, but instead reused, further used or recycled in a loop without dropping out of the economy.”
Croc’s broader sustainability strategy has set ambitions to achieve net zero emissions by 2040. With this, the brand has implemented numerous initiatives to drive circularity within its operations, including the nation-wide (US) roll-out of a Crocs takeback programme available in-store. It’s anticipated that this system could work hand-in-hand with the material innovation roll-out plans – effectively closing a loop that for the mean time remains open to interpretation.
“We believe that to truly make an impact, we can leverage our innovative mindset and drive sustainability transformation, starting with our most widely used materials,” said Deanna. “Sustainability should not be a tradeoff. Fans can feel confident they are getting the same style and comfort they know and love from Crocs without having to make choices between comfort or better materials – we are giving them both and making it even easier to do good with each pair.”