This project is an important step toward meeting
VAUDE’s goal of making the global supply chain environmentally-friendly,
socially responsible and transparent. The supply chain can be divided into two
levels: Producers (Tier 1), that fabricate VAUDE products, and Material
Suppliers (Tier 2 and beyond) that provide the components for these products.
An outdoor jacket consists of approximately 50
components such as linings, membranes, laminates, zippers, drawcords, buttons,
thread and labels. In the production plants that turn these components into
finished products, VAUDE has established high environmental and social
standards with external partners in recent years. For example, 99% of
production volume is manufactured in facilities that have been audited by the
Fair Wear Foundation (FWF). VAUDE has received Leader Status with the FWF due
to its exemplary level of commitment. Approximately 80 percent of the VAUDE
Apparel Collection consists of environmentally friendly Green Shape products –
made from sustainable materials, resource-conserving and fair production.
"Now that we have achieved our goal of all Tier 1 Production featuring
eco-friendly manufacturing under fair working conditions, we are turning our
attention to ensuring that the components in our products are consistently
produced with environmentally friendly and fair manufacturing as well,"
said Antje von Dewitz, VAUDE CEO. The majority of VAUDE’s material suppliers are
certified in accordance with the strict bluesign® System environmental
standard, which is like an "Ecological Purity Law" that permits only approved
materials. Currently, VAUDE has a limited ability to influence the
manufacturers of component parts for its production processes since it has no
direct relationship with these suppliers – especially in the upstream stages of
production. The manufacturing steps of spinning, weaving or dyeing are often
very resource-intensive and harmful to the environment. It is therefore important
to VAUDE to implement high environmental and social standards in this area as
well. "This is a huge task that we are now tackling as part of the pilot
project," said Antje von Dewitz.
Providing expertise and raising awareness
One year ago, VAUDE launched the project
"Environmental Stewardship in the Supply Chain", which is supported
by the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and funded
by the Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG) within the
"develoPPP.de" program. What is unique about this program is that
expertise and an awareness of environmental and sustainability issues is transmitted
directly to suppliers. Together with external experts, VAUDE will be training
its main Asian suppliers intensively in the fields of environmental, chemical
and safety management and social standards over a period of two years. The
suppliers will become empowered and motivated to autonomously implement
measures in these areas. This can often reduce operating costs, which provides
further incentive for management. Participating companies, accounting for approximately
80% of the material volume at VAUDE, are gladly welcoming this support. Bettina
Roth, Head of Quality and Chemicals Management at VAUDE explains: "In our
experience, when suppliers develop an understanding and awareness of pollution
prevention and environmental protection, they implement new practices
thoroughly. This is a long-term, sustainable approach that works much better
than mere testing of products."
The project is intended as an example of "best
practices" which will be presented to the "Alliance for Sustainable
Textiles" and provide momentum for the whole textile industry. VAUDE is a
founding member of this alliance, which brings industry associations, civil
society, government and many manufacturers in the textile industry together.
"We want to use this project to demonstrate how the upstream stages of
production can be clean and responsible. If enough manufacturers follow suit,
we can establish significantly higher environmental and social standards
throughout the textile industry," said Antje von Dewitz.
Stakeholder Workshop at VAUDE
In September, VAUDE invited experts from the field
of politics, research, the outdoor industry, and specialized journalists to participate
in a discourse of this project. Present were representatives of the Federal
Environmental Ministry, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and
Development (BMZ), Germany’s Investment and Development Company (DEG), as well
as Nicole Espey, Executive Director of the Federation of German Sporting Goods
Industry and Pamela Ravasio, CSR Manager from the industry association,
European Outdoor Group. "This project precisely identifies sticking points
in the supply chain: building awareness and competence in the Far East. Together,
we should tackle this issue in the industry. VAUDE deserves great credit for
being a pioneer in this issue,” said Nicole Espey. The DEG, which is supporting
the project financially, is also convinced: "We believe that the
combination of knowledge transfer and awareness of environmental and
sustainability issues are instrumental for improving working conditions in one
of the largest and most important industries in developing countries. We are
pleased to be supporting VAUDE in this pilot project," said Yvonne Veth,
Investment Manager DEG. Antje von Dewitz also gave a positive verdict on the
stakeholder meeting: "We invited important stakeholders to the table and received
very positive feedback and valuable impetus for further development of the
project. It is clear that fostering dialogue on strategic issues makes sense
because by working together, we can achieve a lot more."
The ecological and social
commitment at VAUDE in its Sustainability Report: http://csr-report.vaude.com/
More on the pilot project:
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