Activewear and swimwear manufacturer Active Apparel Group (AAG) is making a concerted effort to shrink its ecological footprint with the launch of an environmental management system.
The system is designed to be embedded within the operations of AAG’s business, allowing the company to meet environmental regulations and reduce the carbon footprint of its operations in China, Australia and the United States.
Culver City, California-based AAG worked with a third-party auditor to assess its greenhouse gas emissions to identify areas of focus for reducing their carbon impact. Among those, the company plans to reduce Scope 1 energy use (direct emissions due to fuel combustion), reduce air freight and reduce water usage. The company also plans to collect and manage production waste, increase the use of sustainable materials and continue collection of greenhouse gas emissions data to promote ongoing improvement.
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“AAG has set time-bound and measurable goals in our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint,” said Daniel Hawker, the company’s CEO. “We know the majority of the fashion industry’s emissions occur in the supply chain. As manufacturers, we take on this responsibility—we want to not only reduce our own operational emissions, but enable our customers to understand and manage their own Scope 3 emissions.”
AAG manufactures activewear for more than 25 brands, including Johnny Was, Phillip Lim, Equinox, SoulCycle and Summersalt. The environmental management system is part of AAG’s Responsible Business Strategy, a company-wide initiative to improve in areas such as governance and social and environmental impact. The company also participates in a number of other initiatives aimed at ensuring environmental and social responsibility, including a living wage audit by Bureau Veritas, a materiality assessment and a supply chain traceability project, among other programs and audits.
AAG will provide quarterly reports to its board of directors and stakeholders of its progress on issues monitored by its environmental management system.
“We want to be part of the solution in moving the industry towards a decarbonized future,” Hawker said.
