SDG 13 Steps: How European and North American Denim Mills are Embracing Climate Action
Reducing fashion’s carbon footprint has never been more imperative. A recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicates that without immediate and widespread intervention in shrinking emissions, it will be impossible to keep global warming limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
According to the United Nations, fashion is responsible for an estimated 2 to 8 percent of the world’s total carbon emissions. Companies in the private sector are taking action. Signatories of the U.N.’s Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, including Lenzing, have committed to a goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.
In addition to signing on to the UNFCCC, Lenzing has reduced its own carbon impact through True Carbon Zero TENCEL™. For the fibers, we have reduced the carbon footprint of the production process as much as possible. Any energy use that cannot be avoided is then offset.
Around the globe, denim mills are innovating to address U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 13 on climate action. Read on to see how mills in Europe and the Americas—including Berto, Elevate Textiles/ Cone Denim, Global Denim and Textile Santanderina—are reducing their carbon footprints.
BERTO
Italy
Francesca Polato, marketing and communication manager, explains:
“In Berto the vision that guides us through sustainability is the five R’s: Respect, Recycle, Reuse, Repair, Reduce.
“But, sustainability is strongly linked with research and development, so we are studying every day which is the better way and strategy to save energy and water in order to have ‘close to zero environmental impact.’ For this reason, there is not a real new process, but a set of small changes into our industrial production process. Of course, our limited-edition machine, G2 Dynamic by Jeanologia, is one of the most important investments in terms of sustainability. The ozone finishing, in fact, permits us to save a high percentage of water, chemicals and CO2 emissions.
“From the product point of view, we have in our collection a lot of fabric made with organic cotton in order to reduce the use of water and chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Moreover, we have some fabrics made with recycled cotton coming from the regeneration of our own waste of production.”
ELEVATE TEXTILES/ CONE DENIM
United States
Kara Nicholas, vice president of marketing, says:
“Elevate Textiles is investing in doing our part to prevent global climate change. We are committed to reductions through our own goals, as well as through our membership and participation in the United Nations Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action. The UN Fashion Industry Charter is an industry-wide commitment to set a decarbonization pathway for the fashion industry in line with keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, drawing on methodologies from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
“Elevate and its brands, including American & Efird (A&E), Burlington, Cone Denim, Gütermann and Safety Components, continue to affirm their commitment by setting science-based emissions reduction targets across the entire value chain that are consistent with keeping global warming to 1.5 degress above pre-industrial levels. Elevate has also set a long-term target to reach net-zero emissions by no later than 2050.
“Our targets for the SBTi are currently under review for validation and we’re scheduled to receive the results mid-September.”
Among Elevate’s targets for 2025 is reducing its energy usage by 2.5 percent per year. In 2020, 13 percent of the company’s energy came from renewable energy sources.
GLOBAL DENIM
Mexico
Anatt Finkler, creative director, says:
“Global Denim has always been deeply involved with its commitment to the planet and with it, contributing to lower our emissions and combating climate change.
“We believe that every change we do, no matter how big or small, has an impact. One of the very first tasks that we put together this year is based on education. We want to translate our values to our people and our community, and we developed an environmental campaign to be always present at the mill so we can teach our employees that small actions contribute to helping our planet.
“This campaign consists of lots of imagery inside our mill that claims small actions and reminds everyone to take them; from small stuff like “Don’t forget to turn off this light” and “Unplug your electronic devices,” to “Recycle paper,” “Close the water” and “Put the trash where it’s supposed to go.” The campaign is followed by a series of talks and email chains on information about how to be better every day and do better in regards to sustainability and lowering our footprint.
“On a bigger scale, Global Denim continues to operate the entire mill operation on renewable energy made by its hydroelectric power plant and reused in its cogeneration plant, where instead of having emissions, we take advantage of the CO2, the heat and steam and transform it into new energy.
“We have been renewing our machinery and this year we are receiving brand new machines that operate with less energy and save water. Plus, everyday our R&D team is working on new developments to make our products more friendly and sustainable and so our processes.”
TEXTIL SANTANDERINA
Spain
Santanderina is a signatory of the UN Global Compact, and it uses the principles of the SDGs to guide its sustainability efforts.
In climate action, Santanderina has focused on energy reduction. One aspect of this plan is replacing older machinery with more efficient options, such as boilers that use less fuel.
The group invested in renewable energy with the addition of 2,400 solar panels on the roofs of multiple buildings at its headquarters. This supplies about 5 percent of the company’s energy needs.
As another source of energy, Santanderina has had a natural gas-powered CHP plant for the past 25 years. This makes the company mostly self-reliant for its energy needs, but the manufacturer is investigating alternatives that would lower its footprint further.
The company puts an emphasis on training its employees in sustainability, pointing to the individual impact each of them can have on reducing Santanderina’s footprint. Many employees bike to work, and the producer is installing electric vehicle charging at its headquarters.
“If the Earth is in danger, we will be too,” said Juan Parés, president and CEO of the Santanderina Group.