EPA & Industry Launch Coalition for Apparel/Footwear Sustainability
On March 1, 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency and a group of leading apparel and footwear brands, retailers, manufacturers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and academic experts launched the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, which aims to create a common industry-wide tool to measure the environmental and social performance of apparel products and the supply chains that produce them.
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(Founding members of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition include 33 entities, which include Adidas, Esprit, Gap Inc., H&M, HanesBrands, JC Penney, Kohl’s Department Stores, Levi Strauss & Co., New Balance, Nike, Nordstrom, Patagonia, REI, Target, Timberland, Walmart, the Outdoor Industry Association, the EPA, etc. The group has been working together informally since early 2010, and will begin beta-testing the initial version of an apparel and footwear sustainability index in 2011.)
Goal Is to Improve Environmental & Social Costs of Industry
Among the Coalition's environmental and social goals are to: (i) improve water-use efficiency and/or re-use in cultivation or production of raw materials (e.g. cotton) and the manufacturing of apparel products; (ii) minimize waste in individual operations, supply chain, and end-of-life of apparel products; (iii) reduce the use of chemicals and potentially hazardous materials in the cultivation, production, or manufacture of raw materials and apparel products; and (iv) achieve full life cycle transparency about the social and ethical performance impacts of all companies and products; etc.
Coalition to Create Industry Index to Measure Apparel Sustainability Performance
The Coalition aims to lead the industry toward sustainability by creating an industry-wide index for businesses to use to measure and evaluate apparel and footwear product sustainability performance. This Sustainable Apparel Index will help identify and drive improvements in energy, waste, water, and toxins in the supply chain and help reduce operating costs and risks so that apparel retailers and brands will be able to compare performance of upstream supply chain partners using a single standard for measuring and reporting performance to their downstream customers. The index will also serve as a foundation for eventual reporting to consumers on the sustainability performance of the products they purchase.
The Coalition will draw on the work of different efforts to measure and track apparel sustainability including the Outdoor Industry Association “Eco Index” and Nike’s “Environmental Apparel Design” tools.
Index to be Expanded to Include Footwear in 2011, Other Products in the Future
The Coalition states it will expand the index to include footwear-specific criteria in 2011 and that it may be feasible to expand the index to apply to other product categories in the future. In total, the Coalitions is supportive of the concept of a single index framework for all consumer products, and is interested in working with other groups toward that goal.
Coalition Membership on Invitation-Only Basis, but Will Open to All in 2012
The Coalition states that its membership has been on an invitation-only basis for its companies to test the potential and value of working together before finalizing a formal structure. Members have participated in a six-month Phase I effort to develop a prototype apparel index which will be reviewed and refined through a stakeholder engagement process, launched, pilot tested and further refined. Membership in the Coalition will be opened to all once this has occurred and a tool is developed that is robust enough for broader testing and use, and following the creation of a more formal governing entity in late 2011. Open membership is planned for 2012.
Additional information on the Coalition is available here.