Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1497119
Truly Green? EXECS WEIGH IN ON SUSTAINABILITY CLAIMS textileinsight.com In recent years, as sustainability surpassed trend status and came to define the industry's future, green claims escalated rapidly. Indeed, in a 2021 European Commission study, that ran an extensive cross-sector sweep of websites to identify instances of greenwashing, findings revealed that in 42 percent of cases, green claims were exaggerated, false, or deceptive. Legislation on this issue is coming quickly as part of the EU Green Deal with some mandates expected to go in effect in 2024. In the meantime, companies continue to seek the best way to accurately substantiate and communicate sustainable product features. We reached out to half a dozen execs and asked for their thoughts on this question: How can industry combat this rampant rise in greenwashing? Here are their responses: EXECUTIVE Q&A / SUSTAINABILITY Glenn Barrett Founder/CEO, OrthoLite "ere's a need to be more sustainable in our production, consumption, and disposal, more so today than ever before (for the sake of our planet and future generations). As a supplier, we are trying to do our best to do the right thing, but there's a lack of industry standards for language, measurement, testing, and certifications for sustainability claims. At OrthoLite, we've implemented industry certifications such as GRS and the Higg Index and invested in renewable energy sources for our production, but there's still work to do. A solution to combat greenwashing is an honest conversation and cross-collaboration between policymakers, manufacturers, brands, and retailers across the footwear industry (and consumer-product industries) to establish benchmarks to design the future of a circular footwear industry." Niclas Bornling GM North America & Head of Global Brand, Houdini "Currently there are no industry standards, it's a bit of the wild west, so creating legislation and regulation around products and sustainability would be a great first step. ere are laws for food and labeling, it should be similar for the apparel industry. No one is perfect, including Houdini but we are better than most and continue to strive to get better. ere are brands that have ulterior motives, thus 'greedwashing' and are exploiting those efforts in their marketing programs. On a positive note, the consumer is learning more about buying choices and will be able to read through the noise."