All CSR & Sustainability articles – Page 15
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ArticleVF to promote labor diversity
In line with its Council to Advance Racial Equity (CARE) and Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Action (IDEA) initiative, VF Corp. is implementing a number of new measures in its labor policy. “All VF employees will participate in a foundational inclusion and diversity learning journey to ensure they share a common ...
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News briefsVivobarefoot wins sustainability award for algae-based footwear
Vivobarefoot is one of the winners of Arizona-based Footprint Foundation’s 2021 Ocean Hero Awards, which recognize innovative champions that are positively affecting the environment on a global scale. Vivobarefoot was honored with an Innovative Engineering Award “for developing the first footwear made from algae, a renewable aquatic resource.” Footprint, a ...
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Article
Itochu and Aquafil join forces to sell recycled nylon
The Japanese trading company Itochu and the Italian chemical firm Aquafil have entered a partnership to promote and expand the businesses of circular nylon production. In 2011, Aquafil created the Econyl Regeneration System that turns recovered nylon waste such as fishing nets, carpets and post-industrial waste back to caprolactam (CPL), ...
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News briefsPrada obtains €90m sustainability-linked loan
Prada has signed a €90 million, five-year sustainability-linked loan with the Italian bank UniCredit. The loan is characterized by the application of a bonus mechanism that allows for a reduction in the interest rate with the achievement of quantitative targets in the field of environmental sustainability. Attainment of those targets ...
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Article
VF wants to eliminate single-use plastic packaging by 2025
VF Corp. has announced new sustainable packaging goals, defined as “a critical component of VF’s global sustainability strategy” for its large portfolio of brands, which includes The North Face, Vans, Timberland, icebreaker and Eastpak, among others. The new targets revolve around the following four pillars : 1) Eliminate all single-use ...
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News briefs
Wortmann installs PV panels at its HQ
The Wortmann Group has installed nearly 7,000 square meters of photovoltaic (PV) panels on the roofs of its headquarters in Detmold, Germany. The panels cover an area the size of a football pitch and are expected to produce 1.18 million kilowatt hours annually, which corresponds to the consumption of 300 ...
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News briefs
Inditex among the founders of new MIT-led climate consortium
Inditex, the owner of Zara and other brands, is one of the 13 founders of the new MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium, an alliance of companies that will work with MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) to build a process, market, and ambitious implementation strategy for environmental innovation. The other founders ...
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News briefsZalando joins the Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Zalando has joined a circular economy network by becoming a member of the U.K.-based Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The German online retailer said that the collaboration is in line with its commitment to apply the principles of circularity and extend the life of at least 50 million fashion products by 2023. ...
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ArticleGucci goes beyond carbon neutrality
Italian fashion house Gucci, part of French luxury goods group Kering, announced the extension of its climate strategy, moving beyond carbon neutrality to also focus on measures to protect and restore ecosystems that mitigate climate change. Gucci’s new Natural Climate Solutions Portfolio will encompass initiatives to promote regenerative agriculture within ...
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News briefs
South Korea has breached labor commitments with EU
A report published by a panel of experts confirmed the EU’s concerns that South Korea has not acted consistently with its trade and sustainable development obligations under the EU-Korea trade agreement, according the European Commission. The independent panel concluded that South Korea needs to adjust its labor laws and practices ...
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News briefsLenzing unveils plans for major solar energy project in Austria
Lenzing, the producer of Tencel fibers, has unveiled plans for a photovoltaic plant in Austria on around 55,000 square meters, set to become the largest ground-mounted photovoltaic plant in Upper Austria. With approximately 16,000 modules, the plant will generate nearly 5,500 megawatt-hours per year, which corresponds to the average annual ...
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ArticleOeko-Tex carries out its annual standards revision
Oeko-Tex, an association of 18 independent research and testing institutes worldwide that sets standards for more safety in products of the textile and leather industry and their manufacture, is proceeding with its annual revision of test criteria, limit values and requirements for its sustainability certifications and labels – the objective ...
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ArticleInterview: Diversity equals innovation - D’Wayne Edwards
As part of our survey on diversity and inclusion, the first part of which was published on Dec. 23, we had an email interview with D’Wayne Edwards who was the lead designer of Nike’s iconic Air Jordan brand for a decade from 2001, making him one of the most prominent ...
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ArticleDiversity and inclusion are a growing corporate issue
In 2020, the year of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests, diversity and inclusion burst onto the public agenda. The theme has emerged on companies’ radars, too. Diversity and inclusion are increasingly criteria by which companies are evaluated. And, while some footwear and sportswear brands have come under fire for ...
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News briefs
TÜV SÜD introduced vegan product certification
TÜV SÜD has introduced vegan product certification to ensure that apparel, footwear and textiles are neither made of, nor finished with, animal-derived materials – such as leather, fur, fibers (wool, silk), glue, dyes and chemical substances (beeswax, carmine dye extracted from cochineal insects). The German company tests, audits and monitors ...
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News briefsBoohoo appoints PKF Littlejohn as auditor after PwC resignation
Boohoo has appointed PKF Littlejohn as its auditor after the resignation of PwC in October in the wake of a scandal over working conditions at some suppliers to the fast-fashion e-tailer. The company came under scrutiny earlier this year after allegations that workers making Boohoo clothes were paid below the ...
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News briefs
VF signs the UN Global Compact, commits to women’s empowerment
VF Corp. is a new signatory of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). The company has also endorsed the UN’s Women’s Empowerment Principles. The UNGC’s ten principles boil down to the upholding of “internationally proclaimed human rights,” freedom of association and collective bargaining for labor, the rejection of forced, compulsory ...
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ArticleEU to cut greenhouse emission by 55% by 2030
The 27 members of the European Union agreed on Dec. 11, after a night of negotiations, to reduce by at least 55 percent their greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, compared with 1990 levels, increasing the target from a previous objective of 40 percent. “Europe will reduce emissions by at least ...
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ArticleGore and Bionic Yarn jointly develop textiles made from ocean-bound plastics
W. L. Gore & Associates and Bionic Yarn, a material engineering company from New York, have announced a collaboration to drive the development of a high-performance textile made from traceable, recycled plastic. Gore said it recently made an equity investment in Bionic to help streamline its fiber supply chain and ...
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News briefsRalf Ringer launches a campaign to recycle shoes
Ralf Ringer has launched a campaign offering customers discounts on new footwear if they return old shoes. The Russian company will ship collected used shoes to its factories, where they will be reprocessed, with all re-usable materials returning into the production cycle. Non-reusable materials will be turned into rubber coatings ...
