Brands’ hazardous chemicals group will scrutinise leather
07/04/2015
A senior figure at adidas in Asia, Lyn Ip, senior director for social and environmental affairs, addressed the annual meeting of the International Council of Tanners (ICT) in Hong Kong on March 29. She explained that the group has been working on a manufacturers’ restricted substances list specific to leather, a draft of which she has circulated to leather industry bodies in China, Taiwan and Italy for feedback. “We want you to be part of this discussion,” Ms Ip told the ICT. “We want cross-pollination of ideas.”
ZDHC formed as a coalition of six brands and retailers (H&M, Puma, Nike, C&A and Li-Ning, as well as adidas) in 2011, following a campaign against hazardous chemicals in clothing and footwear by Greenpeace. Lyn Ip told the ICT that perseverance and transparency are the keys to keeping the dialogue with Greenpeace productive.
She also said mutual support among the companies, many of them usually fierce rivals, in the face of criticism from Greenpeace at the start, had also been an important factor. “Greenpeace has sometimes gone for ‘naming and shaming’,” she continued, “but we have not done that to each other. We have given each other support and guidance.”
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