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Puma aims to be first carbon neutral sportswear company

 

Fashion and sportswear companies have kept rather quiet about carbon footprints, while other industries competitively launch offset policies. Puma, however, says it is taking on an ambitious initiative to make an eco-friendly leap.

At “The Business for the Environment Summit” the world’s third-largest sport and lifestyle goods maker announced its goal to become the first carbon neutral company in the sportswear industry. The conference was held in Seoul on Thursday in observance of Earth Day.

“To be the first carbon neutral company is the next logical step in our mission to become the most desirable and sustainable company in the sport and lifestyle industry,” Jochen Zeitz, Chairman and CEO of Puma, told the press before giving his speech at the summit.

Co-hosted by the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Knowledge Economy, UN Global Compact, World Wide Fund for Nature and the United Nations Environment Program, B4E is the world’s biggest summit to discuss a variety of environment-related issues. About 1,000 CEOs and high-profile figures participated in the three-day conference which ended yesterday.

Puma plans to tame its direct and indirect carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by undertaking carbon-offsetting projects in Africa, while considering the needs of local communities and conservation of biodiversity. The company also aims to curb the carbon to be generated by the many Puma-sponsored national soccer teams when they take international and domestic air flights for the World Cup in South Africa this summer.

“We started a long-term sustainability program to reduce our energy and water consumption, waste and CO2 emissions by 25 percent by 2010. But that still leaves 75 percent. We are not quite yet ready to invest into new carbon neutral technologies. So we want to mitigate the remaining parts by offsetting carbon in Africa,” said Zeitz.

“Businesses should feel responsible for their carbon footprints. We are also taking UNEP’s challenge to offset our football teams’ international travels to South Africa very seriously. We hope in doing so that we inspire other stakeholders in the FIFA World Cup 2010 to follow suit,” the executive stressed.

The portfolio of Puma’s offsetting projects follow internationally accepted standards, such as the Clean Development Mechanism and the Gold Standard and Voluntary Emission Reduction standards.

Puma is making efforts to reduce carbon emissions internally as well. It has been collecting Environmental Key Performance Indicators from all its offices, warehouses and stores worldwide for the last five years to determine the company’s total carbon footprint on an annual basis.

The company also established a new Puma Vision Headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany last year which is the first carbon-neutral, company head-office in the sporting goods industry. In addition, the company will also require most of its other local offices to switch to electricity from renewable sources.

“PUMA will also support the offsetting of its employees’ carbon footprints by subsidizing those emissions generated on the way to and from work by 50 percent,” said Zeitz.

Puma’s carbon-cutting policy does not include CO2 emissions through transport and manufacturing of its products, but the company is making efforts in the area by introducing new packaging systems.

One of the key features is the “Clever Little Bag,” a combined shoe box and carrier bag which was unveiled last week. Designed by San Francisco based industrial designer Yves Behar, the bag is supposed to reduce water and paper use by more than 60 percent annually.

Why is it so clever? The designers explained that by providing structure to a cardboard sheet, the bag uses 65 percent less cardboard than the standard shoe box, has no laminated printing, no tissue paper, takes up less space and weighs less in shipping, and replaces the plastic retail bag.

Puma’s apparel collections will be bagged using sustainable biodegradable material as well, replacing current polyethylene, plastic and paper bags. This means that 720 tons of polyethylene bags, 192 tons of plastic and 293 tons of paper use can be avoided every year.

The roll out of the new packaging system is planned for the second half of 2011.

By Park Min-young (claire@heraldm.com)