Timberland makes progress on sustainability targets
12/04/2017
In the product category, the company said 58% of the apparel cotton it used in 2016 came from organic, US-origin of Better Cotton Initiative-certified sources. It aims to reach 100% by 2020. As part of this target, Timberland said it is exploring a pilot programme in Haiti, which could see smallholder farmer-grown cotton from the country included in its supply chain.
In 2016, 84% of the footwear Timberland produced included at least one material containing recycled, organic or renewable (ROR) content. It wants to increase this to 100% by 2020, with its partnership with recycled fabric manufacturer Thread a key part of this.
In the outdoor category, Timberland revealed that it planted 500,000 trees globally in 2016, bringing its total to 9.2 million since 2001. This represents significant progress towards the 2020 target of 10 million trees. Last year also marked the inaugural year of a company initiative to create or restore an amount of green space equivalent to its retail floor space in five US cities. During 2016, it restored a community garden in the Mott Haven district of New York. In 2017, the project will focus on Philadelphia.
Timberland employees are recognised for their impressive work in the community, but the company said this proved to be more challenging in 2016 than in previous years. Overall, 41% of its employees served at least one hour of community service, compared to 76% in 2015.
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