How Are Comfy Crocs Leading On Sustainability?

Hey, comfort seekers! If you own a pair of Crocs clogs or HEYDUDE Wallys, you know what it’s like to feel good in your own shoes. But what if that comfort went beyond your feet? What if your favorite footwear company was also working hard to make the planet and its communities more comfortable, too?

Every year, Crocs, Inc. (the company behind both brands) drops a Comfort Report—and the 2024 edition is basically their report card on how well they’re living up to their big purpose: “To Create a More Comfortable World for All.”

We’re breaking down the key wins and the big challenges from 2024 across their four core goals: Inclusivity, Circularity, Climate Stability, and Community.

Comfort for All People (Inclusivity)

Crocs, Inc. believes that a company is strongest when every employee feels safe, valued, and like they belong. It’s about fostering inclusive workplaces where individuality is a source of strength.

Top-Tier Workplace Vibes: The company’s enterprise engagement score hit 78 in 2024. That might sound like a random number, but here’s the kicker: it’s higher than the retail industry’s peer benchmark score of 74. Essentially, their employees are happier to be at work than the average person in the shoe/retail world.

Safety First, Always: Being safe at work is a non-negotiable. In 2024, Crocs continued to ramp up safety initiatives in their massive distribution centers. This included adding an innovative safety training area in their Ohio center, using "Behavior Based Safety (BBS) teams" in Nevada, and training more employees to be ready for any potential safety needs in the Netherlands.

The First-Ever Global Impact Month: To connect the Crocs worldwide team around their purpose, they held their first Global Impact Month. This led to employees volunteering approximately 530 total hours to help their communities. Given they have over 600 employees, this is less than an hour per employee. Crocs could do better with being involved in their communities.

The Inclusivity Challenge: One Size Doesn't Fit All

While the company had a great engagement score, the work to make sure everyone feels valued is ongoing. In 2024, they held focus groups with over 600 employees globally to understand how they felt about things like pay, benefits, and recognition.

The key is moving beyond a one-size-fits-all plan and making sure their recognition and rewards programs truly work for everyone—from corporate teams to the folks in retail stores and distribution centers. They are actively incorporating this feedback into their strategy to ensure benefits are competitive and that everyone has a clear path for career growth.

Comfort for The Planet (Circularity & Climate Stability)

Circularity is about reducing waste by keeping materials in use, and Climate Stability is about cutting down on carbon pollution.

Circularity: Giving Old Shoes a New Life

Crocs goal is to champion a "circular economy" where products are designed to be reused and recycled, instead of just thrown away.

The Takeback Program Hits a New Stride: The 'Old Crocs New Life' takeback program expanded across the U.S. and Canada, collecting well-loved Crocs from fans. In 2024, 183 retail stores participated, proving that consumers are ready to help with the recycling effort. Given most of what we recycle goes into the landfill, this is the best approach to reduce waste.

A Clog Made Better: Crocs launched a limited-edition 'Keep It Going' Classic Clog that used 25% post-consumer recycled content—material collected mostly from the takeback program. This proves they can reuse material and still deliver the same comfort and style. A better goal would be to continue to stretch this to aim for 60-75%.

Say Goodbye to Virgin Plastic Packaging: All of Crocs’ plastic polybags (the bags the shoes are shipped in) are now made with 100% post-industrial recycled (PIR) content. This means they're using factory waste to make new packaging, which is a major win for reducing reliance on new plastic.

Climate Stability: Cutting the Carbon

Crocs goal is to work to reduce the company's contribution to climate change by lowering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Halftime on the Emissions Goal: Crocs has a goal to reduce emissions per pair of their Classic Clogs. By using bio-circular content (think materials derived from plants and waste) in their Croslite™ compound, they’ve achieved a cumulative ~10% reduction in emissions per pair of Classic Clogs since their 2021 starting point. That means they are officially halfway to their goal!

The Sun is Coming: They broke ground on a solar project at their Las Vegas distribution center, a major step toward using cleaner energy in their operations.

Setting Science-Based Targets (SBTI): As many companies have, Crocs committed to setting official near-term, science-based emissions reduction targets through the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTI). This shows they’re not just guessing—they’re using real science to plan their climate action.

The Planet's Challenge: Going the Distance

The path to a truly circular economy is "incredibly complex," requiring partnerships across entire industries. They are still breaking ground on the solar project and piloting innovative transportation solutions, meaning these are works in progress, not yet fully scaled successes.

They are still evaluating how to best achieve their goal of 50% bio-circular content by 2030, showing that figuring out the right material balance is a constant strategic challenge. The biggest challenge remains controlling the emissions in their supply chain (called Scope 3), which they are tackling by collaborating with all their suppliers.

Comfort for Our Communities (Community)

Crocs goal is to address challenges to unlock opportunities, focusing on making communities safe, resilient, and thriving for everyone.

Millions in Donations: In 2024, Crocs, Inc. contributed $6.6 million in total financial and in-kind donations.

Focus on Youth Potential: Crocs introduced their first official set of community impact targets with an ambitious goal: to help over 3 million young people develop the skills they need to build confidence and step up to their greatest potential.

Responsible Sourcing & Design: For the HEYDUDE brand, they engaged in a design co-op with a Native-owned-and-operated business to responsibly source design patterns for some of their footwear. This is a great example of using their platform to support diverse businesses and ethical design.

A Look at the Brands' Evolution in 2024

Crocs continues to be the "clog authority" globally. Beyond the Classic Clog, they released the multi-silhouette Getaway sandals collection featuring their new, cloud-like Free Feel™ technology. Jibbitz™ charms also kept growing, expanding to new categories like bags.

HEYDUDE: The brand saw massive growth, reaching over $800 million in 2024. They launched new styles like COMF (more cushion and height) and the first slipper in their portfolio, COZY. They also brought new personalization to HEYDUDE with HEYMAKERZ patches, laces, and stickers.