The U.S. Cotton Protocol has announced another sharp jump in the number of acres planted under its guidelines promoting full transparency.
The organization registered an increase of 25 percent for 2023 over 2022, reaching a total of 1.6 million acres enrolled in the program. This is the highest number to date.
This is the fourth successive year of increases in the total enrolled acreage, which now represents 16 percent of all planted cotton acres in the U.S. This milestone means more sustainably grown cotton is available to brands and retailers participating in the Trust Protocol.
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“With the growing number of enrolled acres, we’re making even more environmentally responsible cotton accessible to our brand and retailer members,” said Daren Abney, executive director of the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol. “We continue to be inspired and encouraged to see that U.S. cotton growers have once again expanded the number of planted acres enrolled in the program, underscoring their unwavering commitment to ongoing improvement.”
The Trust Protocol team supports brand and retail members by providing them with the tools to trace both U.S. Cotton and Protocol Cotton through the Protocol Consumption Management Solution (PCMS) and claim Protocol Consumption Units (PCCUs). The measuring allows one PCCU to be minted for each kilo of Protocol Cotton grown and harvested on Protocol farms in the system. Currently, there are 970 million PCCUs available to be consumed in the PCMS, which is equal to 4.45 million bales of cotton.
The Trust Protocol continues to strive for full transparency and continuous improvement in the sustainability and quality of the cotton harvested. The program is committed to U.S. cotton’s legacy of authenticity, innovation and excellence, preserving and improving the environment, caring for people and maintaining corporate integrity.
Right now, the program has more than 1,800 supplier members and more than 40 companies and global brands and retailers. They include Macy’s, Ralph Lauren, Gap, Levi Strauss & Co. and J Crew.
The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol is associated with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, acknowledged by Textile Exchange and Forum for the Future, and part of the Sustainable Action Coalition, Cotton 2005 Sustainable Cotton Challenge, Cotton 2030 and Cotton Up initiatives. It has also been recognized and published in the ITC Standards Map, and recognized as a standard for sustainable Cotton by the Partnership for Sustainable Textiles. It is a member of the ISEAL Community.
