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Fibre2Fashion
Published
Mar 7, 2017
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Fast Retailing to eliminate hazardous chemicals by 2020

By
Fibre2Fashion
Published
Mar 7, 2017

Japan based Fast Retailing, a public retail holding firm, aims to eliminate the use of hazardous chemicals across the entire lifecycle of its products by January 2020, says a company sustainability report. In order to meet the goal, the company headquartered in Yamaguchi, has also set stringent quality standards against current best practice guidelines.



In a bid to create a sustainable business that works in harmony with the natural world, the firm has committed to minimising our environmental impact, eliminating waste, and continuously searching for ways to create more value from fewer resources. Further, it will also engage with its stakeholders to identify key focus areas where it can drive the most impact, like responsible chemical use and reductions in the greenhouse gas emissions.
According to Yukihiro Nitta, Fast Retailing Group senior vice president and sustainability director, fabric manufacturing is one of the greatest environmental impacts and joining Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) will improve the environmental performance of the fabric suppliers. After understanding that our biggest environmental impact is with our suppliers, we are now looking to baseline and set targets for our strategic fabric suppliers, mentioned Nitta.
"SAC's Higg Index is a very effective tool that helps us set goals for environmental reductions, while at the same time allowing us to measure the performance of our suppliers," said Nitta. Using the Higg Index, we will track and benchmark factory performance across seven different environmental themes, including missions and wastewater, energy use and chemical use. It means we will be able to identify which factories need support, and the best ways to make improvements. “We will see where the gaps are and what factories we have to prioritize. We will go in and conduct technical assessments with engineers and see where the reductions can be made," Nitta added.
"For us, environmental sustainability is so important to the business. Natural resources are essential, if we want to continue with our sustainable growth," said Nitta. (RR)
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