Jesse Stedman admits that naivety was initially the driving force behind his quest to manufacture disc golfing equipment out of 100% recycled plastic.
In 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing in full force, Stedman began building a manual injection molding machine in his Denver garage and researching plastics. Turns out, there was a lot to learn.
It would take Stedman more than two years to manufacture a putter to bring to market, though by that time he’d built an audience for his company, , by and by selling mini discs. Since then, the company has made 250,000 discs and kept more than 100,000 pounds of plastic from reaching landfills in the process, Stedman said.
“We’ve never necessitated or created the need for virgin plastic to be created,” he said. “We’re recycling roughly a pound of plastic every minute.”
Over the years, Trash Panda has outgrown Stedman’s garage and DIY machinery, and attracted some high-profile collaborators from which it sources used materials. Last year, it landed its biggest partnership yet when it began working with Broomfield-based footwear company to turn old shoes into new discs.
Trash Panda debuted its first on Earth Day this year, each featuring speckles of plastic from recycled shoes. The collection has expanded to include a new putter color combination as well as a small-batch mid-range disc, which has since sold out.
Lucky for disc golfers, Trash Panda will soon add a driver to the mix, called the Crocs Procyon. Itap slated for release on Sept. 14.
“Itap really an incredible opportunity to bring together two local brands with a shared belief in the idea that a productap story doesn’t have to end when its first use does,” said Deanna Bratter, Crocs’ chief sustainability and compliance officer.
How Stedman went from DIY manufacturing to becoming a recycled plastics expert and working with a $4 billion corporation is nothing short of an adventure — one chronicled entirely on YouTube.
Thousands of viewers followed Stedman from his early days “hanging on a bar in my garage” injecting melted plastic into molds through the cycles of trial and error that led to Trash Panda’s first release in November 2022. In one series of videos, Stedman tries making discs from a different type of plastic every day for five days. There’s one titled that features footage of Stedman trying four different plastics with very little success.
“I thought all plastic was pretty much the same,” Stedman said reflecting on the time before his garage experiments. “Every type of plastic is engineered for a very specific purpose. The type of plastic that makes a fantastic pill bottle or take-out container is not the same type of plastic that makes a great disc golf disc.”
That made finding the right mix for his products an arduous task. After all, the discs needed to be able to fly and maintain their integrity if they hit something like a tree.
Stedman wasn’t deterred by the failures, however. If anything, he became more convinced that the outdoors community could lead in finding solutions that benefit the planet.
"Almost every outdoor sport depends on plastic production. From your weatherproof jacket to your kayak, itap all plastic," he said. "The outdoor rec space and outdoor sports, in general, are primed for sustainability because we want to be outside, but we also need to protect the place we’re out."
Today, Trash Panda primarily uses a flexible and durable type of plastic called thermoplastic polyurethane or TPU, which it sources from brokers and manufacturing companies, as well as individuals through its own . All of its products feature 100% recycled plastic, a rarity in the manufacturing industry, Stedman said.
"We have recycled everything from shoe soles to phone cases to cattle tags to scrap from the medical industry and automotive industry," he said.
Certain types of plastic, like what Trash Panda gets from Crocs, can’t be injected exclusively on their own, Stedman said. So instead, it gets mixed in with the company’s base material to create a freckled design effect.(The same thing happens with recycled phone cases Trash Panda gets from , he said.)
The two companies were first introduced by a mutual acquaintance at a company called , said Bratter. Circular Colorado works to find novel ways to recycle waste, turn it into new resources and limit what gets sent to landfills, a sustainability concept known as circularity.
Crocs manages a variety of sustainability initiatives that support its mission of “creating a more comfortable world for all,” Bratter said. That includes finding circular models of production and consumption.
“We want people to enjoy Crocs and have multiple pairs, and we also acknowledge that if we are responsible for creating waste, we have a responsibility to address it,” she said.
For example, the company’s takeback program allows customers to return their old shoes by mail or in person in any condition and receive a discount on future purchases. Gently used pairs get donated to nonprofits, such as , that help create economic opportunities for local entrepreneurs who can sell them.
Meanwhile, well-loved pairs get ground down into what Bratter calls “Crocs shreds,” which can then be used to manufacture new products. Crocs uses them in its own line of that feature 25% recycled materials.
Crocs currently donates the shreds used to make discs, Bratter said, to help support Trash Panda’s innovation and, hopefully, inspire other companies to think sustainably. The more Crocs fans who leverage the takeback program, the more colors Trash Panda will have to work with in the future, she added.
“Manufacturing, especially using recycled materials, is nothing if it's not innovation and creativity at its core,” Bratter said. “Anyone who is willing to experiment with our shreds and create new products in a sustainable way, we're really excited to partner with.”
