At Merrell, our commitment to recycling extends well beyond the office recycling bin. We continuously search for opportunities to bring new life to both pre- and post-consumer recycled materials within our supply chain.  From using fabric made from single use water bottles or ocean plastic, to regrinding factory waste to make new shoe components, we believe it’s our responsibility to use as much recycled content in our products as possible while balancing performance and durability.

As a brand that annually uses over 15,000,000 square feet of leather, we know that making our leather products as environmentally friendly as possible is one of our biggest opportunities to reduce our overall environmental impact. That’s why back in 2006 our parent company joined the Leather Working Group (LWG) as an early adopter to establish strong environmental stewardship practices in the production of leather. Over the past decade, the LWG has worked to improve the leather manufacturing industry by creating alignment on environmental priorities, establishing best practices, and providing guidelines for continuous improvement. In fact, LWG-certified manufacturers combined save an average of 12.1 billion liters of water and 775 megawatts of energy every year. That’s the equivalent annual water usage of nearly 30,000 homes and enough annual electricity to light more than half a million homes.

Natural materials, such as wool and cotton are renewable resources that can be an environmentally friendly material option when sourced appropriately. That’s why we have established guidelines for incorporating a variety of sustainably produced natural materials in our products.