˙Inditex announced a series of new sustainability commitments, including that by 2025, the group’s eight brands will use 100% organic, sustainable or recycled cotton, linen and The promise of materials like polyester.
˙In 2019, the number of garments that comply with the “JoinLife Environmental Protection Excellence Label” will more than double and will account for more than 25% of all garments in 2020.
˙By 2023, the company will completely eliminate the use of single-use plastics from sales to customers.
The world’s largest clothing retailer, Spanish clothing giant Inditex, has formulated a series of new sustainable development commitments, including that by 2025, the group’s eight brands will be 100% A commitment to using materials such as organic, sustainable or recycled cotton, linen and polyester.
Announced at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) on July 16, 2019, Inditex Group President Pablo Isla announced several goals.
He said: Sustainability is a never-ending task. Every member of Inditex is involved, and all the suppliers we cooperate with must participate. This mission; we aspire to play a transformational role in the industry.
Cotton, linen, polyester fiber and Viscose will be 100% sustainable by 2023 and will account for 90% of the raw materials purchased by Inditex, including Zara, MassimoDutti, Bershka , Oysho, PullandBear, Stradivarius, Uterqüe’s eight chain brands are all required to implement it.
(1) Commitment
The first milestone to be launched is the group’s “JoinLife” 》The number of ready-made garments will more than double in 2019 and will account for more than 25% of all ready-made garments in 2020. The “JoinLife” label launched in 2016 identifies the use of more sustainable raw materials, such as organic cotton, recycled Polyester, and Tencel, and focuses more on water resources and environmental friendliness. Energy processes.
◎The volume of clothing that conforms to the “JoinLife” label has increased by 85% in 2018, reaching 136 million pieces of ready-to-wear
The volume of clothing compliant with the “JoinLife” label has increased by 85% in 2018, reaching 136 million pieces of ready-to-wear clothing. The group predicts that its growth rate will further reach 110% in 2019, and that by 2020, one in every four pieces of clothing for sale will comply with the sustainable label.
In addition, this year all platforms and headquarters within the group plan to achieve the highest level of green building certificates, and all Zara stores will have environmental benefits (one year ahead of schedule) ). In addition, 80% of the energy used in the group’s activities (stores, logistics centers and offices) is renewable energy, and the home second-hand clothing recycling service currently operating in several cities in Spain and mainland China will be expanded to Paris and London in September this year. ,New York.
Another more ambitious plan is to complete the entire environmentally friendly store platform in 2020. Zara will achieve this goal in 2019, and other brands will follow suit in 2020, helping the company fine-tune its business and create a digital footprint in sales.
◎Also in 2020, all Inditex brands will cancel the use of plastic packaging bags
Similarly In 2020, all Inditex brands will eliminate the use of plastic packaging bags. Zara, Zara Home, Massimo Dutti, and Uterqüe have already implemented this. In 2018 only 18% of bags were made of plastic.
In addition, all stores of the group will set up second-hand clothing recycling bins in 2020 for subsequent reuse or recycling for charity purposes. The “Clothingr Collection” is one of the most important tasks of Inditex’s circular economy work and has now expanded to 24 markets.
The group’s stores have 1,382 recycling bins. In cooperation with the Caritas charity, 2,000 street recycling bins have been set up in Spain and home pickup services are available throughout Spain. Since the launch of the service, more than 34,000 tons of clothing, footwear and accessories have been collected through dedicated recycling bins in the company’s stores, offices and logistics platforms.
Complementing the plan are strategic commitments focused on developing new recycling processes and conducting research and development of new technologies. At this point, Isla mentioned a partnership agreement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), under which the $4 million funding program aims to address global challenges in operations and sustainability and support better ways to recycle Research on clothing and using cleaning techniques to re-gain fibers.
◎The company will completely eliminate the use of single-use plastics from sales to customers by 2023
By 2023, the company will completely eliminate the use of single-use plastics from sales to customers, and 100% of the waste generated from the group headquarters, logistics platforms and stores will be recycled under the framework of the “ZeroWaste” plan. Sent for recycling or reuse.
Currently, the company is recycling or reusing 88% of its waste. It will continuously introduce all materials used in packaging distribution and garment hanging operations (mainly FSC certified cartons, recycled and recycled plastics, alarms and hangers) into the collection and recycling cycle.Recycling systems for reuse in the supply chain or recycling under the so-called GreentoPack initiative.
(2) Sustainability Committee
At the same time, during the annual general meeting of shareholders, Isla pointed out, It was recently announced that the establishment of a Board-level Sustainability Committee has been approved. Plans for the new committee were first disclosed in the group’s first-quarter financial report in June.
In addition to overseeing Inditex’s “comprehensive commitment to sustainability”, the new Sustainability Committee will also oversee the monitoring of the group’s supply chain , and the relationship between various stakeholders with vested interests related to sustainable development and the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Board of Directors. The committee will review the group’s health, safety and human rights throughout the entire value chain and the process of publishing sustainable development information. The status of standards compliance; and any other issues or initiatives that affect or may affect the company’s sustainable development.
Isla stated at the annual general meeting: The commitment to sustainable development relies entirely on Inditex’s commitment to everyone at every stage of its activities and the commitment of all suppliers to commitment to achieve these goals.
