Haglöfs takes alternate stance on Greenpeace report
While most companies in the outdoor companies have rallied against Greenpeace after its singling out of the sector in the Greenpeace debate, Swedish brand Haglöfs has thanked it for its findings.
It has withdrawn its Grym hiking boot after Greenpeace found fluorocarbon PFOA in the boot.
Fluorocarbons is a group of chemicals that are used to make products water and oil repellent.
“We are grateful that Greenpeace has drawn our attention to the fact that our boot contains a high amount of the fluorocarbon PFOA, which neither we nor the Norwegian law accept,” said Lennart Ekberg, Sustainability Director at Haglöfs.
Haglöfs uses other, less environmentally damaging fluorocarbons in the products with extremely high water repellency requirements. Where the demand for water repellency is not as important, Haglöfs use fluorocarbon-free alternatives.
“We are working to fully eliminate the use of fluorocarbons in our products. But so far we lack a safe and functional alternative when there is an extreme demand for water repellency,” added Mr Ekberg.
The Greenpeace review covered 40 outdoor products from 11 renowned brands. In only four of the tested products no concentrations of fluorocarbons were found. Norway is so far the only country that has set a limit for the use of the PFOA.
