Collaboration with supervisory and sectoral organisations
The dialogue and participation have permitted Inditex to advance sharing and applying the best practices in the area of health and safety and environmental sustainability for the product in the world. The transparency and collaboration policy of Inditex with all parties implied in its business model means that the programmes and progresses of the Group are open to the national public organizations responsible for the protection of consumers and the supervision of consumption items. Also, Inditex is an active member in international organizations such as The Sustainable Apparel Coalition or Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals.
In countries that are relevant to Inditex due to their commercial importance, such as China, Turkey or Spain, stable communication channels have been established to share experiences and trial methods with official trial and analysis laboratories.
EU PEF Pilot Footwear
In 2014, the European Commission launched a series of pilot programmes, Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) Pilots, to develop common labelling methods that permit identification of the environmental impact produced in the manufacture of products. Inditex, together with other brands in the textile sector, forms part of the work group responsible for developing said methodology for footwear. In 2014, we carried out the Life Cycle Analysis (ACV) on some of our products in order to identify the most important environmental impacts and in which stage of the supply chain they are located.
SAC/Higg Index
As active members of The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), Inditex works in various work groups for the consolidation of the sustainability index, Higg Index 2.0, which permits evaluation of the environmental and social impact of all of the stages of the textile production process, identifying opportunities for improvement and which will permit the final consumer to make sustainable purchase decisions. In 2014, we worked with the SAC on the elaboration of indicators that evaluate the environmental impact of the stores in order to include them in a future version of the Higg Index. Also, we have participated in other work groups such as the development of a methodology to verify the information provided to the Higg Index, and the search for new technologies for textile and footwear recycling. In 2015, Inditex will provide all of its knowledge of the textile supply chain to revise the module of the Higg Index that evaluates the environmental impact of the suppliers. Our objective will be to adapt this module to small and medium enterprises in the textile sector and to develop an index that represents all companies in the sector.
Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals
As part of the implementation of the Joint Roadmap v.2 (Collective Plan of Action) of ZDHC, from Inditex we have led the development of training materials that guide suppliers in relation to the correct use and management of chemical substances in manufacturing. In 2014, more than one hundred participants in China, India, Bangladesh and Vietnam received this training.
Furthermore, Inditex is working with brands in the textile sector and international organisations to harmonise the various existing audit protocols in order to facilitate dialogue with the supply chain.
Eureka innovation across borders (Turkey)
Eureka is a project in collaboration with Ekoteks, the supervisory laboratory of Turkey, for the development of new technologies to improve the health of the product in the manufacture processes for footwear and cosmetics.
CIQ Beijing (China)
Participation in the Pre-Testing programme with the CIQ Beijing organization of the Department of Customs Inspection and Quarantine of RP China (Beijing), reserved for companies with a very high level of compliance with the health regulations for the imported items.