Crocs is expanding its shoe takeback program.
Now, all Crocs retail and outlet locations in the United States, excluding Hawaii and Puerto Rico, are equipped with designated collection boxes for consumers to drop off Crocs shoes in any condition – from well-loved to gently used or outgrown.
The Broomfield, Colo.-based footwear company added in an announcement on Thursday that anyone with used Crocs shoes in the continental United States can also visit crocs.com/oldcrocsnew.html to receive a no-cost mail-back kit to send in shoes for their next life. Each participant will receive a one-time 10 percent discount on Crocs products, in store or online.
According to Crocs, these gently used shoes will be donated to Soles4Souls, an international non-profit organization that works with partners to create local economic benefit in communities around the world through entrepreneurship and employment.
As for the “well-loved pairs” of Crocs that may be unwearable, the company said they will be repurposed and reimagined to give the materials another use, such as being upcycled into new shoes.
The program, called “Old Crocs. New Life,” first launched in October. At the time, the program was designed to combat fashion waste while helping consumers dispose of their old Crocs shoes. Crocs retail stores across 10 states – including Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin – participated in the initial phase of the project.
Since the launch, the company said that it has seen “encouraging results” from the pilot program, which has now led to the nationwide expansion on Thursday. Crocs added that it will “continue to leverage partnerships and product innovation to strive toward giving each received pair its next best use.”
“We are expanding our ‘Old Crocs. New Life’ program, taking learnings from last year’s pilot and working to create an even bigger impact together with our fans,” Deanna Bratter, vice president and global head of sustainability at Crocs, Inc., said in a statement. “The growth of this program is an exciting continuation of our efforts to address the environmental and social challenges faced by the footwear industry and ultimately make a difference by keeping shoes on feet and out of landfills.”
Bratter, who joined Crocs in April 2022 as the company’s first-ever global head of sustainability, was brought on to help hit the brand’s ambitious goal of being net zero by 2030, initially set back in July 2021.
In the company’s most recent Comfort Report, which highlights Crocs, Inc.’s ESG efforts, the goal has since been revised to achieving net zero status by 2040.
