The large scale “Environmental Stewardship
in the Supply Chain” project has just finished a two-year run and the mountain
and bike sports outfitter VAUDE is reporting positive results. The
pilot project, which was partially financed with grants, was aimed at educating
Asian suppliers on the issues of environmental protection, energy stewardship
and emissions management.
Supply chains in the textile industry are often long and complex. An
outdoor jacket consists of about 50 different components, which are made by
suppliers and delivered to a production facility that then assembles the
jacket. These suppliers were the focus of the pioneer project “Environmental
Stewardship in the Supply Chain”, which VAUDE launched in 2015 to establish
high environmental standards and maximum resource efficiency in this part of
the supply chain as well. “We want to create transparency throughout the entire
supply chain and, for each individual component of our products, achieve the
greatest possible certainty that it was made with fair and environmentally
friendly production,” said Antje von Dewitz CEO, describing the motivation for
the project.
Together with external experts for occupational
safety, quality management and environmental management at Arqum, training and
workshops took place over a period of two years under the motto “helping people
help themselves.” The project was designed and directed by Bettina Roth, Head
of Quality and Chemicals Management at VAUDE. Employees from management and
production organization at eight suppliers participated in a series of six
units. In addition, individual consultations were carried out on site during 36
factory visits altogether to develop tangible improvement measures.
At the end of May
2017, VAUDE CEO Antje von Dewitz made a week-long trip to Asia to get a
firsthand look at the project's successes and to present all participants with
a VAUDE Award for goal achievement at a final event. “I am delighted that the
project has brought so many measurable results and sustainable improvements for
our partners, for us and for the environment. It shows that with collective
determination, an ideological goal can be professionally implemented when we
succeed in convincing the participants of the importance of the issues.” she
concluded.
Tangible Results
Thanks to the
voluntary participation of our largest suppliers, 80% by volume of the primary
materials and lining fabrics that VAUDE uses are already covered by the pilot
project. Participant's appreciation for the project was enormous because they
quickly recognized the benefits and specific improvement opportunities on offer
in the very practical workshops. In exchanges with other participants, the
know-how mediated by VAUDE and the experts at Arqum could be directly put into
practical action. “The enthusiasm during the workshops was really contagious
and went even so far that, recognizing not only the significance and benefits
of sustainability issues within their own processes, the participants also want
to raise awareness of their suppliers as well,” said Bettina Roth. Overall,
there are already a total of 100 improvement measures regarding technology and
organization undergoing implementation. All suppliers were invited to the final
event in Taipei (Taiwan) where each of the eight participating companies
presented its best practices to a large audience.
These measures have
led to the conservation of 550 metric tonnes of waste, 5,500 m³ of water and 18
million kWh of energy. CO2 emissions could be reduced per year by
about 5,000 tonnes. Not only did the environment profit, but also the factories
themselves – they saved on the cost of energy, resources and materials
amounting to an average of 50,000 euros per year. “The results are impressive
and show quite clearly that a factory's commitment to sustainability also pays
off in financial terms. With this project, we could also demonstrate that with
coordinated and partnership-based collaboration, the demanding requirements
within the industry can become more efficient and be addressed more effectively
than by many isolated, individual measures,” said Jens Haubensak, Managing
Director of Arqum GmbH.
Reductions were
achieved through measures such as insulating pipes, shutting down hydraulic
pumps when not in use, introducing LED lighting, using energy from solar panels
and heat recovery as well as modernizing obsolete systems. In addition to an
increase in energy efficiency, measures for occupational safety and the improvement
of working conditions in the factories – such as translating safety
instructions into the local languages as well as training on the issues of
protective work clothing and chemical handling – were covered. The most
important achievement was the introduction of a professional chemicals
management system for many of the participating factories. This primarily
covered issues such as the automation of processes as well as storage,
transportation and disposal of chemicals.
What Will Follow?
“Our goal is
to roll out the project over the next few years for all material suppliers,” said
VAUDE CEO Antje von Dewitz. “In addition, we want to win over our competitors
and industry association so that they’ll work together with us to promote the
issue,” Bettina Roth added. But that is still not enough: As a founding member
of the “Alliance for Sustainable Textiles” VAUDE is using this project as a
role model for best practices which could provide momentum for the entire
textile industry. The “Environmental Stewardship in the Supply Chain” project
was promoted by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
(BMZ) and financially supported by the German Investment and Development
Company (DEG) under the auspices of the “develoPPP.de” program.
Learn more about the
pilot project:
http://csr-report.vaude.com/gri-en/news/Sustainable-Supply-Chain
http://csr-report.vaude.com/gri-en/environmental/suppliers
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