Environment and Sustainability news and comment CCB 116
March 25, 2011
H&M are launching the Conscious Collection, a recycled and organic fashion range. The clothes are made from adapted and greener materials such as organic cotton, Tencel(r) and recycled polyester. At first glance this is of course good for the environment, but the issue is perhaps more complex.
The first question is what does it mean to the average shopper? Why does cotton need to be organic? And what is Tencel(r)? These are just some of the questions that might be raised by the sceptical consumer. For this reason I suspect that the launch of this new range alone will not suffice if its intention is to sway shopping habits. A strong communications plan is essential to ensure that shoppers are aware of what the range is about and why it’s important.
There is also the question of affordability. These clothes will be priced similarly to H&M’s other ranges, allowing the eco-consciousness to capture a wider audience. However, is making it affordable a good thing? Whilst sourcing ethically and reaching as many consumers as possible is obviously favourable, it will be a very sad affair if we continue to ‘throw-away’ in the way that we currently do. This is where we greet the problem of ‘fast fashion’.
Fast fashion is a term that used by retailers for clothes that go from the catwalk to stores in the shortest possible time in order to capture current trends in the market. It is associated with ‘disposable fashion’ because it involves delivering products quickly and cheaply to a mass market, allowing the mainstream consumer to take advantage of current designer styles at a lower price. The constant need to move with the times and keep up with the latest trend presents us with an even greater problem.
So while we warmly welcome H&M’s new range, I imagine that for now the prospect of fashion-retailers finding a sustainable solution to fast fashion is something we can only dream about.
Katie Dodds is a Consultant at Corporate Citizenship. Contact her at katie.dodds@corporate-citizenship.com to discuss environment, reporting, assurance and supply chain work
Chevron fined $8.6 billion for Ecuador pollution
Oil giant Chevron has been ordered to pay $8.6 billion after being found guilty of pollution in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest. The fine is thought to be the largest environmental fine in history but liability is being disputed fiercely by Chevron which claims the ruling is “illegitimate” and plans to appeal. Texaco, which merged with Chevron in 2001, was accused of dumping billions of gallons of toxic materials into unlined pits and Amazonian rivers in the lawsuit brought on behalf of 30,000 Ecuadoreans. Campaigners including non-profit Amazon Watch claim that crops were damaged, farm animals killed and that local cancer rates increased. The case has lasted nearly two decades and at the time of going to press, an US District Judge had temporarily banned collection of the fine stating that it could result in multiple enforcement actions and asset seizures around the globe.
The Coco-Cola Company‘s seventh Sustainability Review, released 4 February, reports mixed results regarding the company’s water performance. A target to return all water used in its manufacturing process back to the environment by 2010 has been missed. In 2009, Coca-Cola released 179 billion liters of treated wastewater back to the environment, and 89% of its facilities, representing 95% of product volume, were compliant with internal wastewater treatment standards. Water related achievements were also reported including a 13% improvement in water use efficiency since 2004, using an average of 2.36 litres of water per litre of beverage produced. Coca-Cola has also launched a water resource sustainability standard requiring its 900 bottling plants to evaluate water sustainability and develop a source water protection plan by 2013.
High street fashion chain H&M will launch a new range of environmentally friendly fashion in April, including clothes made from organic and recycled fibres. The debut Conscious Collection will comprise pieces for men, women and children including T-shirts, dresses, skirts, blazers and trousers. Materials used are organic cotton, organic linen, recycled polyester made from PET bottles or textile waste and Tencel, a “silky, renewable material produced with minimal environmental impact”, according to H&M. The Conscious Collection is to be a continuous collection that will feature at different times and within different ranges. The Spring collection is a follow-up to H&M’s Garden Collection of sustainable style last year.
Some of the UK’s biggest grocery and construction companies have pledged to make resource savings by signing up to two environmental responsibility deals. WRAP’s (Waste & Resources Action Programme) Courtauld Commitment is aimed at improving resource efficiency and reducing the carbon and wider environmental impact of the grocery retail sector. New signatories to the second phase of the Courtauld Commitment include Associated British Foods, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Kraft Foods, Premier Foods and Proctor & Gamble. These latest additions take the number of UK companies supporting the Courtauld Commitment to 48, including all of the major grocery retailers. Barratt Developments and Hanson UK have also committed to Halving Waste to Landfill, WRAP’s construction industry commitment. Since its launch three years ago, 540 companies have committed to Halving Waste to Landfill.
Kerala Government to hold Coca-Cola accountable for environmental damage
The state government and local assembly in Kerala, India, have approved a new piece of legislation allowing parties affected by environmental damage allegedly caused by Coca-Cola, to seek compensation from the company. The new Bill sets up a legal mechanism through which individuals can claim compensation. The move formalises the government’s position that the Coca-Cola Company is responsible for causing environmental damage including pollution and water depletion in and around its bottling plant in Plachimada in the state of Kerala. The Indian arm of the multinational drinks company has denied the accusations, which date back to 2003. The High Power Committee has recommended that Coca-Cola be held liable for Indian Rupees 216 crore ($48 million), in line with the ‘polluter pays principle’.
‘Check Your Paper’ is a new online database, launched by the WWF, to assist buyers in finding the paper products with the lowest environmental impact. To gain the maximum five stars, paper products must have positive impacts on forests and include a high percentage of fibre from either recycled sources or credibly certified, well managed forests. They must also have reduced CO2 emissions from the manufacturing process, indirectly reduced waste sent to landfill and produce close to zero water pollution.The Check Your Paper site includes 25 paper products with “excellent” five star environmental scores across all categories including printing and writing papers and tissue paper.Users can easily search for different types of paper, amongst the hundreds listed on the database, making it a helpful resource for those seeking low impact paper.
Coco-Cola and Heinz partnership expands use of PlantBottle(tm) packaging
The Coca-Cola Company and H.J. Heinz Company announced a new partnership on 22 February allowing Heinz to produce ketchup bottles using Coca-Cola’s innovative PlantBottle(tm) packaging. The PET plastic bottles are made partially from plants, with up to 30% made from natural sugarcane ethanol, and use less non-renewable resources than traditional PET bottles. Heinz will launch its PlantBottle(tm) ketchup in June 2011 using ‘talking labels’ inviting consumers to ‘guess what my bottle is made of’. The strategic partnership between the firms is an industry first and both hope it will set a precedent for the sharing of innovate packaging technology across the world. Coca-Cola first launched PlantBottle(tm) in 2009 and a life-cycle analysis conducted by Imperial College London showed that the use of packaging provides a 12-19% reduction in carbon impact.
The new Green Economy Council held its first meeting on 16 February to discuss how business and government can work together to support the transition to a low carbon, green economy. The business leaders involved include chairman of Ford UK Joe Greenwell, CEO of IBM Stephen Leonard and managing director of Kraft UKand Ireland, Nick Bunker. The Council also brings together ministers from the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS), the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for the first time. Council members will meet three times a year and advise the Government on policies affecting green growth and how to maximise opportunities while minimising the burden on business.
Contact: Department for Business, Innovation & Skills www.bis.gov.uk
Kellogg’s backs 100% of its palm oil with green certificates
Kellogg Company announced on 3 March that it is to purchase GreenPalm certificates to cover 100% of its global palm oil use. GreenPalm is a certificate trading programme which involves RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) certified palm oil producers registering the quantity of their output with GreenPalm and being awarded one certificate per tonne of sustainably produced palm oil. These certificates are then sold via the GreenPalm web based trading platform. The complexity of palm oil supply chains currently makes sourcing sustainable palm oil directly a difficult task. Kellogg’s has taken a leading position as the first US company to cover 100% of its products with the certificates and intends to purchase sustainable palm oil directly once an economically and logistically feasible segregated sustainable supply is available.
The Asian Green City Index, commissioned by Siemens and undertaken by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), has found that Singapore is the most environmentally sustainable of Asia’s cities. The targets and achievements of 22 major Asian cities with respect to environment and climate protection were analysed for the study. Singapore was commended for its efficiency approach and ambitious targets.
COMMENTS