Reebok 2014 Annual Report Download - page 97

adidas Group
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2014 Annual Report
Group Management Report – Our Group
93
2014
Sustainability
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02.8
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One example is our commitment to use 100% ‘sustainable cotton’ (Better Cotton, certified organic
cotton or any other form of sustainably produced cotton that is currently available or might be in
future) in all our products by 2018. More information about sustainable cotton can be found on our
website.
Sustainable product construction: The number of adidas products that have integrated sustainability
considerations has grown continuously in recent years. This growth is supported by ongoing
innovation in the area of sustainable product construction and manufacturing techniques, such as
the revolutionary DryDye technology or the low-waste initiative. DryDye is a polyester fabric dyeing
process that uses no water, 50% fewer chemicals and 50% less energy than the traditional fabric
dyeing process. The low-waste initiative produces footwear with fewer parts, recycled materials
and maximum pattern efficiency, aiming to reduce material waste. For example, in footwear, we
took on the challenge of creating a performance shoe with the least amount of waste possible. The
result was the Element Voyager, a streamlined, simplified running shoe that reached 95% pattern
efficiency in the upper and contains 60% fewer components than a traditional running shoe.
Virtual technologies: We increasingly use virtual technologies to reduce the quantity of physical
samples required to design and sell new products. Virtualising processes help us save resources
and money by reducing material waste, transportation and distribution costs. And with fewer
samples being transported by airfreight, we are also reducing our carbon emissions.
Control and monitoring of restricted substances: We have specified clear standards for the use
of restricted substances that follow the strictest local regulations and best practice standards
for consumer care and safety. These standards are mandatory for all business partners and are
updated regularly based on findings in our ongoing dialogue with scientific organisations. They
cover general requirements for eco-labels and green seals (e.g. ÖKO-Tex Standard 100, Toxproof
TÜV Rheinland) for footwear, apparel and hardware products. Both our own quality assurance
laboratories and external testing institutes are used to constantly monitor material samples to
ensure supplier compliance with these requirements. Materials that do not meet our standards and
specifications are rejected.
In order to further guide our suppliers with input chemical chemistry selection, we partnered up
with bluesign technologies in 2014 and are going to implement their chemical data management
system, the bluefinder. With this, our suppliers select best-in-class chemicals, so that they can
produce materials using chemicals that are included in the database.
www.bettercotton.org
www.adidas-group.com/s/product-materials
see Glossary, p. 258