Elevate Textiles releases first sustainability report
Elevate Textiles, the parent organisation behind Cone Denim, has released its first sustainability report.
The document also serves as the group’s first communication on progress for the UN Global Compact and the CEO Water Mandate.
Progress highlights from the report include a 7.7% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions between 2016 and 2019 (as of September 2019, the organisation’s target is to achieve 2.5% per year reductions through 2025), as well as a 7.5% reduction of global water use since 2016. Elevate aims to reduce the water intensity of its manufacturing operations by 20% per unit of production by 2025.
The group has furthermore implemented the ZDHC Manufacturing Restricted Substances List (ZDHC MRSL) version 2.0, plus wastewater guidelines.
Globally, Elevate used 16.5% renewable fuels in 2019, which represented an energy consumption reduction of 4.8% from 2018.
The organisation is also committed to making products with at least 80% sustainably sourced cotton and 50% recycled polyester content by 2025, among other objectives. In 2019, Elevate achieved 52% sustainable cotton sourcing.
In terms of existing sustainable product ranges, the report pointed to Cone Denim’s Sustainblue line, which is produced using recycled cotton and recycled polyester, in addition to the brand’s traceability work alongside specialist New Zealand-based company Oritain, which Elevate describes as a “first” for a denim mill anywhere in the world.
Image: Elevate Textiles.
