Emily Holbrook
(Credit: Pixabay)
Apparel brand Lee has announced its first-ever global sustainability goals. Established under Lee's recently launched global sustainability platform, the company's new goals focus on pursuing more sustainable solutions for apparel development and production.
Lee's four global sustainability goals are to:
- Power 100% of all owned and operated facilities with renewable energy by 2025
- Utilize more than 50% sustainable synthetics by 2025
- Source 100% sustainably grown or recycled cotton by 2025
- Increase Indigood dyed products every year through 2025
These global goals are put into place to reduce the company's environmental and social impacts. They also build on Lee's latest sustainably focused product launches and partnerships, including:
- Indigood Denim: Launched this Spring, Indigood Denim is a signature product line that reduces the amount of water required by 100%, the energy required by 60% and the waste produced by 60% by replacing the traditional water vats and chemical baths of conventional indigo dyeing with a foam dye applicator. Indigood is Lee's commitment to discovering and integrating into their supply chain, the most sustainable ways to dye denim.
- Back to Nature: Lee's range of biodegradable denim products, Back to Nature jeans are made from 100% cotton. When the jeans and jackets reach the end of their useful life, the metal buttons can be unscrewed and reused, and the remaining component products can be composted at home.
- Ellen MacArthur Foundation's Jeans Redesign: In 2019, the brand signed on to the Foundation's Jean's Redesign Guidelines, which set minimum requirements on durability, material health, recyclability, and are based on the principles of a circular economy. The guidelines are being integrated into an internal assessment tool used to measure the sustainability performance of Lee products.
Lee isn't the only apparel company looking towards a sustainable future of manufacturing. In July 2019, competitor Levi Strauss & Co. signed a $2.3 million cooperation agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. The deal is expected to help the denim maker meet its goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and water use in its supply chain.
By 2025, LS&Co. committed to achieving a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in their owned-and-operated facilities, 100% renewable energy in their owned-and-operated facilities, and a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions across their whole global supply chain.
