United Kingdom-based apparel and footwear components supplier Coats is leveraging scale, material innovation and supplier engagement to accelerate its sustainability impact.
Coats’ newly released 2025 sustainability report showcases the progress that has been made and the ongoing work across its value chain to reduce the impact tied to its products and operations across five pillars: energy, materials, water, waste and people. 2025 was the second-to-last year in Coats’ 2023 to 2026 strategy, and it has already met or surpassed some of the targets outlined for 2026.
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“Our ability to deliver key sustainability targets ahead of schedule is the result of three factors: embedding sustainability into our core strategy, investing in high-impact levers and scaling innovation,” Chris Dearing, Coats vice president group sustainability, told Sourcing Journal.
The report includes all the group’s direct operations and joint ventures, aside from footwear insole maker Ortholite, which joined the group in October.
Coats has reduced its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 30 percent since 2022, exceeding its initial 22 percent reduction target for 2026. The company’s investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy—such as solar generation at 13 of its facilities—contributed to this reduction. By 2030, the group plans to have 70 percent of its energy come from renewable sources.
Scope 3—which includes emissions tied to raw materials and inputs—is often the largest piece of a company’s carbon impact, and for Coats this represented 87 percent of its total emissions footprint in 2025. Raw materials alone represent 63 percent of its total emissions. Coats has transitioned 52 percent of its raw materials to non-virgin oil-based inputs, getting close to its 2026 goal of 60 percent preferred raw materials. Coats noted in the report, “Despite this positive progress in increasing the use of preferred materials, we are now approaching the limit of customer acceptance given the price increases that are necessary due to the higher cost of these recycled and bio-based feedstocks.” However, the group expects that regulation such as the EU Green Deal will grow availability and lower pricing for preferred materials in the long run.
Coats is including its upstream supply chain in its sustainable journey through its Supplier Decarbonisation Programme, launched in November. Engaging suppliers behind polymer chips, fibers, dyes, chemicals, packaging and more, the initiative focuses on improving sustainability measurement by onboarding them to Cascale’s Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM), setting targets and developing action items for carbon reduction. In 2025, Coats hosted workshops to share information about its science-based targets and climate science, as well as discuss the work it is doing at its own facilities as it works toward these goals. “By combining data, innovation, capability‑building and long-term partnerships, we’re bringing suppliers with us on a shared path toward meaningful, scalable decarbonization—and helping to move the industry from ambition to action,” said Dearing.
Scope 3 also encompasses transportation, such as the movement of raw materials to Coats’ facilities and the relocation of in-progress goods between Coats factories. Since 2023, Coats has been using generative artificial intelligence to track shipments, and this now-completed system will be a resource to include emissions impact as a factor in transportation decisions.
Coats’ science-based targets outline reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 46 percent and Scope 3 emissions by 33 percent by 2030 compared to a 2019 baseline. The Science Based Targets initiative has validated the group’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, which will see it reduce all emissions by 90 percent compared to 2019.
As a tier 2 supplier, Coats is also helping its downstream customers decarbonize their supply chains through product launches. In 2025, the group expanded its recycled thread offerings with the introduction of textile-to-textile recycled polyester thread made from post-industrial and post-consumer polyester waste using chemical recycling processes. Sold under Coats’ T2T Epic and T2T Gramax brands, the thread creates a new stream for off-cuts and other fabric that might otherwise go to landfill.
Further reducing the impact behind its products, Coats is saving water by improving efficiencies and investing in recycling systems. Last year, the company recycled more than 1.1 million cubic meters of water, equivalent to roughly a third of its water consumption, representing a 25 percent increase from 2022. It is also reducing water consumption in its dyeing processes, which today account for the bulk of its water use.
“Sustainability is not just a responsibility—it is a driver of innovation, growth and competitive advantage,” said Dearing. “Those who can deliver lower-impact solutions at scale will be best positioned to win in the future apparel and footwear market.”
Another area where Coats reached its benchmark early is zero waste to landfill, which was accomplished a year ahead of schedule. In service of this, each of the company’s sites track any waste generated via an app, and Coats reuses or recycles 69 percent of its waste, such as turning cutting waste into new feedstocks.
In governance, Coats intended for women to hold 30 percent of senior roles by 2026, and it has already exceeded this goal with women in 33 percent of these management positions. Additionally, 99 percent of employees are covered by Great Place to Work certification, which uses tools like worker surveys to assess the culture and experience, an increase from 95 percent in 2024.
ESG runs through the organization, which Dearing said supported Coats’ early achievements on some targets. “Sustainability is a real differentiator for us and fundamental to our strategic plans, so we’ve made sure targets are clearly aligned across the organization—from board and executive leadership, all the way through to site-level management,” he explained. “We’ve also made sure that our day-to-day delivery teams understand the targets and have a role in determining how we’ll achieve them. This gives everyone real accountability and makes the targets operational priorities, instead of aspirations.”
This year, Coats will outline new targets from 2027 into 2030, which will include OrthoLite. “Looking ahead, 2026 is a pivotal year for Coats,” said Dearing. “While we’ll continue delivering against our existing milestones, we’ll also take the time to review and refine our sustainability framework and metrics, ensuring they properly support our 2030 science‑based targets and 2050 net-zero ambition.”
