Environmental Programmes

The Inditex Group maintains various environmental projects with the aim of reducing the environmental impact of its activity. All of them are part of the Sustainable Inditex plan 2011-2015.

Better Cotton Initiative Project

Since 2011, as part of this initiative, Inditex has financed a cotton growing project in Gujarabi, India. The 461 participating farmers have received advice and training to save water and reduce pesticides and fertilisers in cotton growing. In this way, the initiative is contributing to more efficient management of the most important resources worldwide: water. Responsible use of chemical products prevents negative effects on people’s health. The support for these cotton producers has a very positive social and economic impact for these farmers and their families. In the specific case of the Inditex project in Gujarabi alone, this positive impact is benefiting more than 2,300 people.

Seeds Guardians Project

In 2012, Inditex initiated a project with Textile Exchange, which aims to support agricultural cooperatives in Odisha (India), to ensure the self-sustaining supply of organic cotton seeds.

The cooperatives in the Odisha zone are mainly made up of women. During the project’s three years, between 40 and 60 women will be trained to conserve seeds banks to produce around 25 varieties of fibre and cotton seeds for organic cultivation.

In addition, the women in the cooperative will train and support other women to save seeds and obtain the skills and abilities to maintain healthy and viable seed banks.

Ensuring the seed supply helps to cut operating costs of women’s cooperative in Odisha, thus improving the profitability of their fields and their standard of living. Thanks to this project, around 500 organic cotton-growing families will see their standard of living improve while conserving the local environment’s biodiversity.

Roba Amiga Project

Since 2011, Inditex has been working with the Roba Amiga cooperative on a project to improve the management of textile waste in Catalonia. The agreement, lasting three years with funding of €450,000, favours the integration of people at risk or in situations of social exclusion.

Terra Project

In 2012, Inditex continued developing the multi-year agreement with the Government of Galicia in the field of forestry, to which it contributes €100,000 a year. This plan, which covers the years 2011 to 2013 and is the continuation of the agreement signed in 2007, seeks the continual improvement of the genetic quality of the reproduction materials for the main Galician forest species, to produce seed nurseries and new collections of clones to maintain a wide genetic variety and incorporate a degree of improvement in each generation.

Social awareness

For several years, Inditex has taken part in the environmental awareness-raising initiative ‘Planet Hour’ organised by the WWF. In 2012, as well as Inditex’s participation in turning off the lights in the windows of the Group’s main stores throughout the world, Pull&Bear has marketed a T-shirt commemorating this initiative. The garment was made of 100% organic cotton and all the profits from its sale were given to funding WWF/Adena Foundation projects to combat climate change.