Crocs is one of the few consumer products brands that proactively talks up the link between using less fossil fuels-derived plastic in products and its ability to achieve net-zero status for corporate greenhouse gas emissions. Most companies champion these goals separately.

It’s a logical connection: Croslite, a blend of ethylene-vinyl acetate and other substances, represents 80 percent of the materials that the iconic clog maker sources for the 150 million pairs of shoes it sells annually. 

Crocs is working hard to change the composition of Croslite without compromising consumer expectations for durability and comfort. Its goal is to replace 50 percent of the mix by 2030 with materials that are “bio-circular” — which, right now, means they’re made from spent cooking oils and tall oil that comes from paper milling and recycling. As of its latest disclosures, Crocs is halfway there.

By weaning off plastics over the past four years, Crocs has already reduced the life-cycle emissions associated with a pair of classic Crocs clogs by about 20 percent to 2.02 kilograms — equivalent to what’s emitted by burning two gallons of gasoline, according to the veteran sustainability professional managing this strategy. The goal is to reduce the footprint by 50 percent by 2030.

“Materials and manufacturing are the biggest levers [we have] to meet our net zero by 2040 goal and find reductions,” said Deanna Bratter, chief sustainability officer for Crocs, in the latest episode of Climate Pioneers. “We really started to focus on how we can innovate and take our materials and look at it both through an opportunity lens to reduce the impact of the material and also to reduce the carbon emissions associated with it.” 

Source: Crocs

Change management for materials management

Bratter joined Crocs in April 2022 after almost 17 years with a yogurt and dairy organization that would eventually become part of Danone’s North America operations. She was instrumental in her prior employer’s successful bid to become a certified B corporation — a process that requires corporate-wide scrutiny of processes. 

That experience has been invaluable at Crocs, where Bratter is the first person to hold an official sustainability role, reporting directly to the CEO. The company set its goals before she joined; part of Bratter’s initial remit was to assess whether Crocs could “credibly and authentically” deliver on them. 

She’s done that by assigning members of her seven-personal team to work closely with counterparts across the organization.

“I really love making sure that we are touching every team in the business,” she said, “and that they have a go-to on the team to draw those connections and bring ideas and sort of implement from the strategy that we’re building for the business. It’s so important that we have a holistic way of engaging and being a partner with everyone across the organization.”

Crocs materials managers, procurement specialists and product designers are at the center of the company’s ongoing plastics transition. “The biggest changes we made were in the management of the practice,” said Bratter, who outlined a playbook of sorts for this kind of transition.

Key steps to prioritize

Find experts to co-develop metrics

Crocs uses a third-party certification from the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification initiative used to measure bio-circular claims. “A lot of folks from the materials team to the manufacturing team have to partner to make sure that documentation and that process is really organized and clean, so that we can certify and audit and everything that comes with that,” she said.     

Use existing processes where possible

The decision to source used cooking oil as a replacement was based on availability and because it was an easy replacement. “We’re able to capture that cooking oil and turn it into essentially a drop-in where we didn’t need to retool or change our production, but we’re using an input that is made from plant oils instead of made from fossil fuels,” Bratter said. 

Find shared value with suppliers, and create space for new competition

Crocs engaged supply chain partners with their own emissions reduction commitments to find common ground and explore ways to create a new production roadmap. The shoe commpany also added new collaborators that had experience with bio-circular processes, as a bid to keep costs down. As of its last environmental report, Crocs had 314 suppliers. “Many bio-circular and bio-based materials and alternatives often come at a premium,” she said.

Get product designers excited

One area of particular focus is how to use scraps of Crocs reclaimed through the company’s takeback program in new designs. The company collects shoes at 160 retail stores in the U.S. and Canada, and offers a mail-in program. The wearable ones are clean and donated so that they can make it onto someone else’s feet, while the rest are shredded. 

Increasing the amount of recycled, bio-based content in Crocs products is a vital component of meeting the bio-circular goal. The “Keep It Going” product line features designs made from 25 percent recycled materials. 

What Crocs is willing to claim about progress

Crocs uses mass balance accounting to discuss the environmental claims related to its materials changes, which has been a bone of contention for some critics. So, when Crocs reports that 25 percent of its production contains bio-based replacements for virgin plastic, that means across all of its production facilities.

The method, though approved by ISCC, is still controversial because Crocs can’t say definitively that a specific pair of shoes contains that much.  

For that reason, Crocs doesn’t include carbon labels, although it does weave messaging about its mission to reduce fossil fuels-derived materials into its marketing, noting how that doesn’t need to come with any sort of sacrifice when it comes to price and comfort.

“We’re not saying, ‘Hey consumers, if you’re interested in sustainability, buy this,’ or ‘If you can afford sustainability, buy this,’ Bratter said. “We’re saying, ‘We believe it’s all important, so we’re just making our shoes better.”

[Join over 1,500 professionals transforming how we make, sell, and circulate products at Circularity, April 29-May 1, Denver.]

The post How Crocs’ CSO uses change management to cut emissions appeared first on Trellis.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom thought he’d delivered a clean technology manufacturing boon to his state with a new four-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Alfonso Durazo Montaño, governor of Sonora, Mexico.

Then President Donald Trump announced rounds of tariffs.

To say the story is still developing is an understatement, but how it does will matter a great deal to a great many people and businesses on both sides of the border.

Here’s what we know so far.

That was then

Signed March 18, the agreement is an attempt to provide supply chain and clean energy stability for California, Mexico and their private sectors. It contains provisions that encourage collaboration on:

• Renewable energy efficiency
• Electric system reliability and markets
• Electric mobility
• Clean and renewable hydrogen
• Supply chain development, and
• Supporting research and development.

“The memorandum shows potential exists,” said Richard Kiy, president and CEO of Institute of the Americas. “Sonora’s goal is to be able to finance up to 4 gigawatts of renewable energy production.” Portions of those 4 gigawatts would be sent to California in an effort to shore up its electrical grid, which is more vulnerable than ever. (Mexico announced the construction of an electrical transmission line between Sonora and the Baja California Peninsula in July.)

The San Diego Chamber of Commerce described the agreement as a “collaboration to promote the energy sector and increase business and economic ties to facilitate a transition towards clean energy.”

But memoranda aren’t treaties, and thus not binding. More to the point, they are vulnerable to contravening action at the federal level. Which brings us to:

Almost two weeks after the signing of the memorandum, Trump imposed 25 percent tariffs on all imported automobiles and auto components, which is taking effect at midnight Thursday. This action follows the implementation of separate 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum (including auto parts) imported to the U.S., regardless of country of origin. Further complicating matters: a 25 percent tariff on all imports from Mexico.

So, in theory, an imported auto part with steel components could potentially rack up 75 percent tariffs if coming into the U.S. from Mexico, from where California imported $14.7 billion in transportation equipment in 2023. (Sonora, for example, is home to a pair of Ford manufacturing facilities.)

But “in theory” is the operative phrase.

This is now (maybe)

This level of tariffs is unprecedented, leaving industry experts scrambling to understand the new business-as-usual.

Trade experts aren’t at all sure whether tariffs can or would be stacked. But if they are, what was once sound economic strategy for Ford — importing cars from Mexican facilities — suddenly becomes a financial problem.

More important, businesses of all sizes rely on regulatory consistency to make informed decisions today and to plan for tomorrow. And while Ford, ultimately, has the resources to navigate these uncertainties, most companies do not. Such firms should not prioritize the MOU, according to Kathleen Claussen, a professor of international economic and trade law at Georgetown University Law School.

“A company with limited resources should be focused on what’s happening at the federal level,” said Claussen. “Everyone should be focused on the White House.”

In other words, a once promising MOU may turn out to be DOA.

The post Trump’s tariffs endanger California-Mexico clean energy deal appeared first on Trellis.

Google, Intuit, Microsoft, Patagonia, Rivian and REI are among a growing number of companies for which the capacity of a renewable electricity project isn’t the most important decision-making metric for signing a contract.

All six companies are negotiating deals aimed at bringing affordable energy to places where renewable electricity is scarce and other factors, including high poverty levels, have made it difficult for consumers to invest in energy efficiency measures such as home weatherization or updated HVAC systems.

For example, Microsoft disclosed a multi-year deal Feb. 25 to bring 100 megawatts of solar electricity to 20 communities over the next four years with an initial focus on Louisiana and Arkansas. This is the tech giant’s second transaction with Clearloop, a Nashville, Tennessee, company expanding solar power in underserved locations where projects have a higher impact on grid decarbonization and also provide a positive economic impact.

Clearloop uses a project financing approach that lets corporations purchase the environmental attribute certificates of utility-connected projects in regions where renewables penetration is low, said Clearloop Co-founder and CEO Laura Zapata. 

“If the government is not going to make these types of investments, maybe the private sector will,” she said, describing the company’s origin story. One of Clearloop’s co-founders and angel investors is former Tennessee governor Phil Bredesen, who also co-founded Silicon Ranch, the solar developer that acquired Clearloop in October 2021.

Central theme: community resilience 

Clearloop prioritizes smaller projects — typically about 5 megawatts, or enough to power 1,000 homes. A key selling point in rural communities is the ability of distributed solar systems to keep communities online during broader grid outages, Zapata said. That helps get projects approved and typically producing power in under one year. “Deploy, deploy, deploy is the name of the game right now,” she said.

Another developer winning deals with high-profile corporations is Sol Systems, an independent power producer in Washington, D.C., that manages 7 gigawatts of clean energy projects in 38 states. It has publicly disclosed deals with Google, Microsoft, Patagonia and Rivian, to name a few. 

Both Clearloop and Sol prioritize low-income communities with high irradiance. Investments often come with employment opportunities, investments in local schools and other activities deemed important by local residents. 

“You can still use these projects to implement your goals, but it’s not just about simply extracting the benefits,” said Adaora Ifebigh, senior director of community impact at Sol Systems. “If you want to be there and show that you’re going to be there, you need to think about things differently.”

Consider Sol’s relationship with Google, which in mid-March pledged another $1.6 million (doubling a previous investment). That money funds grants at rural electric cooperatives in North Carolina and South Carolina for energy efficiency upgrades and other improvements that reduce energy demand and costs.

Source: Clearloop

Demonstrable impact for low-income consumers

“[The relationship] directly reduces the energy burden on our members — particularly during extreme weather months — without the red tape that often comes with other funding sources,” said Kevin Myers, manager of marketing for the Santee Electric Cooperative in Kingstree, South Carolina. “It’s not about policy; it’s about people.”

Santee is one of several organizations that receives funding enabled by the Google deal. The co-op, which will receive $200,000 as a result of the new investment, has funded upgrades at 76 homes over the past two years, including weatherization improvements and installations of heat pumps.

The owners of these homes often don’t qualify for existing programs because they don’t have an adequate credit history or they rent the land where their home is situated — which is a deal-breaker in some locations, Myers said. “These funds can be applied directly to the [customers] who need this the absolute most,” he said.

Consider climate, conservation and community

Electric vehicle maker Rivian reviews community development possibilities as part of all its renewable energy investments. Other factors: how a project can reduce emissions on an otherwise dirty grid and whether the project will cause habitat destruction. (Check out its checklist.)

For example, Rivian teamed up with Patagonia and Sol to back a 50-megawatt project in Stokes County, North Carolina. The funding supported a local robotics program for middle-school students.

Rivian’s renewables strategy aims to offset the impact of its manufacturing and add enough clean energy capacity to the grid to support 7 billion miles of carbon-free driving. 

“We are looking for projects that will result in the greatest potential to negate fossil fuels,” said Andrew Peterman, director of advanced energy solutions at Rivian. “We really think about how we drive grid transformation that is about more than decarbonization.”

For example, Rivian backed Clearloop’s work in Tennessee because solar generation accounts for less than 1 percent of the electricity there. Rivian is working with Clearloop to add enough solar power to serve charging stations across the state, Peterman said. “There are sustainability outcomes, but it’s really about enabling the system,” he said.

Let the community lead

Software firm Intuit also collaborates with Clearloop. Together with REI, it backed a 2.8-megawatt solar installation in White Pine, Tennessee, that will power at least 400 local households and also provide zero-carbon electricity for REI’s nearby distribution center.

“We have never put a limit on projects like this, but it does come down to scope — not only just the clean energy component but also whether it creates co-benefits,” said Debbie Lizt, head of global sustainability at Intuit. “We want to use the resources that we have to have a positive impact.”

Intuit studies economic impact potential as part of its project selection criteria — in accord with its corporate mission statement to “power prosperity around the world.” It prioritizes regions where electricity additions can reduce utility costs, provide exposure to new technologies and potentially create apprenticeship opportunities. 

Unlike some other companies supporting small community solar projects, Intuit doesn’t count the renewable energy certificates they generate towards its emissions reduction goals. Rather, it donates them to the community. “This is important work to do even if it doesn’t serve our direct interests,” Lizt said.

The post For Google, Intuit, REI and others, size isn’t everything in clean energy deals appeared first on Trellis.

The tech giant Meta, owner of Facebook and WhatsApp, has purchased 676,000 carbon credits as part of a project that will transform the management of 68,000 acres of previously commercial forest on Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula. The deal is the first time EFM, the forest investment company that acquired the land, has used credit sales to help fund a forest purchase. 

It also represents a significant uptick in credit use by Meta, which will receive the credits over a 10-year period. The company has retired an average 65,000 credits annually since 2021, according to Allied Offsets, a provider of carbon market data. Combined with a purchase in September of up to 2.9 million forest credits through 2038 from the forestry arm of Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual, the company has contracts in place to allow it to retire more than 200,000 credits every year for the next decade from those two projects alone.

In addition to offsetting emissions as part of its strategy to reach net zero by 2030, Meta said it chose the project because of the broader benefits it will bring to carbon markets. “EFM’s landscape-scale conservation efforts will not only sequester carbon to help us achieve our net zero target,” said Tracy Johns, carbon removal program lead at Meta. “It will also provide lasting outcomes for the ecosystem, local economy, and Hoh, Quileute, and other communities who rely on this healthy and responsibly managed forestland.” The company declined to disclose the cost of its purchase.

No more clear-cutting

EFM’s newly acquired forest is a coastal strip of land that was owned by the forest products company Rayonier for around 80 years. In keeping with conventional management of commercial forests, the company clear-cut the land every 35 years or so and replanted with Douglas fir, western hemlock and Sitka spruce. “It would look more like a plantation,” said Bettina von Hagen, EFM’s CEO.

Thanks to the purchase, which cost EFM more than $200 million, the land will now be managed with more holistic goals, including enhancing biodiversity and storing additional carbon. That means adding western red cedar, a culturally and ecologically significant species that grows slowly and is often excluded from commercial forests; bigleaf maple, which provides food for invertebrates and thus, indirectly, salmon; and multiple understory species.

Harvesting will continue, however. Von Hagen said EFM will apply two methods that balance extraction with long-term sustainability. In a thinning operation, loggers cut around 30 percent of trees and leave what remains. Variable retention harvesting involves removing a much larger fraction — between 70 and 90 percent — while leaving enough trees to protect the soil and provide habitat for animals. The practices will allow the forest to continue to support the local timber industry even as the carbon stored on the land is increased. EFM estimates that 10 million tons of carbon dioxide is currently stored on the land and that the new management practices will increase that by 1 million tons. 

Investors want predictability

The deal that secured the forest was put together at extremely short notice: Von Hagen said data on the forest was made available just nine weeks before binding bids were due. “Until now, we have not been able to assemble the capital for large acquisitions in the short time frames that are usually provided, and have not been able to compete with buyers which were only underwriting the timber, which is a known commodity with predictable prices with which institutional investors are very familiar,” she explained. “Having a contract with a great counterparty like Meta allowed our investors to underwrite the transaction with a predictable set of carbon and timber prices, and that made all the difference.”

Schemes projects that combine commercial activities with carbon storage — which fall into a category of projects known as improved forest management (IFM) — have previously come in for criticism. To estimate the carbon stored by a project, developers forecast the harvesting that would have taken place in the absence of IFM practices. Researchers have warned that the methodologies governing IFM projects allow developers to overestimate baseline harvesting and generate unearned credits. The methodology that will be used by EFM was developed by ACR, a carbon credits standard-setter formerly known as the American Carbon Registry, and was updated in September, in part to improve the precision of baseline measurements.

The post How Meta’s latest forest credits purchase gets it closer to net zero appeared first on Trellis.

Integrating water stewardship into corporate sustainability can result in a more integrated, effective approach to climate adaptation, nature-based solutions and regenerative agriculture, according to a new report on the future of water.

Trellis data partner GlobeScan, along with the World Wildlife Fund, surveyed over 350 water and sustainability experts, and found that more than two-thirds of respondents believe it’s “extremely important” to integrate water stewardship into corporate sustainability initiatives.

The majority of experts also feel it’s at least “somewhat important” to integrate water stewardship into social initiatives such as farmers’ livelihoods, human rights and social justice, and women’s empowerment.

Corporate sustainability programs on water, climate and nature are often conceived and implemented in siloes with limited consideration of the many interdependencies and important trade-offs that can undermine outcomes and have unintended consequences. Carbon tunnel vision, for example, is one of the biggest obstacles to more progress on water priorities and when it comes to climate, experts continue to note that adaptation and resilience need more attention and resources, and water and nature have key roles to play in solutions. 

What this means

For sustainability professionals, one of the most pressing questions to address may be how to best align and integrate water with other sustainability priorities. Rather than continuing to jump from one hot issue to the next, sustainability teams must find a better way to integrate their work across these deeply interconnected areas. Science-based methods also call for integrated, holistic approaches that align with the natural processes of the environment. In addition, experts point to the distinct advantage of more integrated approaches and programs delivering multiple benefits that improve the return on investment and business case for sustainability programs, and are more compelling for external stakeholders.

Based on a global survey with 352 water and sustainability experts in 63 countries and territories conducted November-December 2024.

The post Survey shows corporate water stewardship is ‘extremely important’ appeared first on Trellis.