Sustainability at maceton
Our direction: the UN SDGs
What are SDGs? In 2015, the United Nations members adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. At its heart are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are guidelines to help ensure that economic growth can happen in line with social justice while protecting the environment. That’s where we take our lead from.Out of the 17 goals, we focus on the three that best reflect what we do and where we can ensure a significant impact. That includes our contribution to promoting sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, with productive employment and decent work for all (SDG #8). At the same time, we produce apparel that helps ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns (SDG #12). Last but not least, and within our means as an SME, we combat climate change and its impacts (SDG #13) with special projects and as a part of every workday. Let‘s take a look at how we do all that.
SDG 12
Ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns
SDG 13
Combat climate change and its impacts
SDG 8
Sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, with productive employment and decent work for all.
Invest in Growth
Our direction – the UN SDGs
What are SDGs? In 2015, the United Nations members adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. At its heart are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are guidelines to help ensure that economic growth can happen in line with social justice while protecting the environment. That’s where we take our lead from.
Out of the 17 goals, we focus on the three that best reflect what we do and where we can ensure a significant impact. That includes our contribution to promoting sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, with productive employment and decent work for all (SDG #8). At the same time, we produce apparel that helps ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns (SDG #12). Last but not least, and within our means as an SME, we combat climate change and its impacts (SDG #13) with special projects and as a part of every workday. Let‘s take a look at how we do all that.
Sustainability is a big part of our value proposition to you. It’s a service we provide so that you can credibly offer the sustainable products your customers are looking for. To provide this service reliably and long-term, we continuously look for new ways to produce apparel products that are more resource-efficient and lower in emissions. That involves finding the most innovative materials and working with suppliers who use the most sustainable production technologies.
Our work in that area never ends because markets and technologies constantly evolve. That’s why we invest in ecological sustainability every day – learning more about the effects and impact of individual materials, their lifecycle, tracking value chains, and continuously monitoring and re-evaluating manufacturing steps to find out how we can do things better.
In all of this, the human story is just as important as the product aspects. Over the years, we have taken great care to select production partners who are beyond reproach in terms of social sustainability and compliance. Our partners treat their employees with respect and meet or exceed all legal requirements on their own accord.
SDG 12 – Responsible consumption and production
Rieker has control over the full supply chain
We analyse the environmental impact of each individual production step along our supply chain to gradually reduce it.
1 – Cotton field
The journey begins in the cotton fields, where GMO-free organic cotton is cultivated with less water and non-hazardous, mainly organic fertilisers..
2 – Spinning
At the spinning facility, the organic cotton, which was ginned in a previous step, is spun into yarn.
3 – Weaving/knitting
The yarn is either woven into fabric or knitted using various knitting technologies such as circular knitting..
4 – Dyeing
Our suppliers using the latest environmentally friendly dyeing technologies, and the wastewater is treated in an ETP.
5 – Washing
Using ozone washing, our suppliers can drastically reduce chemicals and don’t use water. In standard washing processes, our suppliers take care to recycle as much water as possible and to reuse it in the production process.
6 – Sewing
Finally, the garments are sewn with sustainable trims, made from the best, most environmentally friendly and durable materials wherever possible.
7 – Shipping
We offer you carbon emission-reduced transportation through green shipping, carbon offsetting, and the use of eco vessels with state-of-the-art technology.
SDG 8
Our sourcing countries
We source only from countries where we can ensure that our supplier partners fully comply with international social and environmental standards and our rigorous Corporate Responsibility requirements.
We started to focus our procurement on Asia back in the 1990s because it offered the right conditions with respect to production partners who are ready to support us in all sustainability-related requirements. Thanks to our local presence and decades-long experience in countries like Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and China, we know exactly where to find the product quality you need and the social and environmental compliance we require.
We only work with partners who specialize in export quality and have passed our stringent compliance onboarding process. Our local CR team regularly supports our suppliers with training and conducts systematic audits to ensure absolute compliance.
We built sustainability into our DNA many years ago. Thinking long-term based on solid values made us prosper. We’re never going to change that.
Sustainability is the principle that guides every decision we make. It is reflected in the respectful and appreciative approach we bring to our relationships with our customers, employees, and suppliers. And it pays off in the efficient, high-performance use of the resources that go into the products we make for you.
For you and us, sustainability is good business.
Explore the possibilities
Better products come from sustainable methods and materials
How we imagine the future
Together with our partners, we set the course for a future where we reward the trust and exceed the expectations of our global clients. We will do this by offering innovative, sustainable apparel that has been manufactured under humane conditions, is affordable to many, and employs our technical expertise to protect the environment through resource-conserving production and conscious use of materials.
We look to achieve many of our long-term goals by improving our global standing through the use of digitalization tools, offsetting emissions that we cannot prevent, and developing fully biodegradable products that offer tangible added value to our customers. We create our future by using our creativity, talent, skills, resources, knowledge, and exceptional staff to introduce innovative products and services that will be in high demand in the markets we serve.
Our vision is a bright and prosperous future driven by a strong mission, a culture of ownership and a clear strategy that every one of us is on board with every day.
SDG 8: For better working conditions – compliance on the ground
You care, your customers care
That’s why we keep a close watch over the social performance of our value chain to make sure everyone plays by the rules. A full team at our headquarter is committed to monitoring and enforcing our CR (corporate responsibility) standards. We have been an active member of the amfori Business Social Compliance Initiative since 2008 and have incorporated BSCI and BEPI assessments and the amfori Code of Conduct into our CR standards. The work of our CR professionals includes regular factory assessments, such as social and environmental/chemical assessments, and ongoing CAP follow-ups, which we conduct before we onboard suppliers and throughout the entire business relationship. Our local CR teams perform production traceability audits for all active oraders, and in Bangladesh, we specifically ensure compliance of our suppliers with the Accord/RSC requirements.
We do all that for two reasons. First, it’s the right thing to do. Secondly, so that you can relax in the knowledge that your brand’s high standards are upheld and protected with every order you receive from us.
You care, your customers care
That’s why we keep a close watch over the social performance of our value chain to make sure everyone plays by the rules. A full team at our headquarter is committed to monitoring and enforcing our CR (corporate responsibility) standards. We have been an active member of the amfori Business Social Compliance Initiative since 2008 and have incorporated BSCI and BEPI assessments and the amfori Code of Conduct into our CR standards. The work of our CR professionals includes regular factory assessments, such as social and environmental/chemical assessments, and ongoing CAP follow-ups, which we conduct before we onboard suppliers and throughout the entire business relationship. Our local CR teams perform production traceability audits for all active oraders, and in Bangladesh, we specifically ensure compliance of our suppliers with the Accord/RSC requirements.We do all that for two reasons. First, it’s the right thing to do. Secondly, so that you can relax in the knowledge that your brand’s high standards are upheld and protected with every order you receive from us.
Annual inspections
100 social audits
80 environmental audits
80 production traceability audits
SDG 12 – Responsible consumption and production
Sustainable raw materials
The materials we use account for a significant portion of our emissions and their environmental impacts. That means we can make a difference by working with the right fabrics.
As the graph on the right shows, we’re already doing well in that area – we are proud that almost 80% of the apparel we sold across all product categories in 2020 is made from sustainable raw materials. But we are on a continuous quest to use even more sustainable fibres.
Our goal is to reduce conventional cotton to zero as quickly as possible and increase the proportion of cotton in conversion or organic cotton.
SDG 12 – Responsible consumption and production
Process sustainability
As in many other forward-thinking industries, innovative technologies can also produce a sustainability edge in apparel production. It’s a route we chose early on.
To that end, we focus on removing harmful chemicals like dyestuffs and replacing them with more sustainable alternatives. The washing processes in denim production are an excellent example for that. They have long been known for their adverse environmental impact with respect to their use of chemicals and water. That is why we work exclusively with partners who only use laser wash technology to eliminate harmful bleaching agents during the washing process and achieve a much lower carbon footprint.
There are many opportunities to make apparel production more sustainable. We invest heavily in researching better technologies and processes to enforce their use with our suppliers. We always insist on using natural-based finishing agents like BIONIC FINISH ECO by
RUDOLF for water repellence, heavily advocate for spin dye as a dying process for (recycled) polyester fabrics, and always prefer sustainable origin-based finishing chemicals.
SDG 13 – Climate action
Product Carbon Footprint
We produced 88,308 pieces of our sustainable children‘s jeans. They are made from 98% organic cotton (OCS100) and 2% elastane. The Product Carbon Footprint calculation shows that a pair of these jeans causes 7.35 kg of CO2.
Although they‘re made from organic cotton, most of the jeans‘ emissions come from their raw material. That means there‘s enormous potential here for alternative materials or jeans that contain recycled cotton. The packaging of the jeans may also be worth reconsidering to reduce the footprint further.
Looking at the life cycle phases, it is clear that the best starting point for preventing and reducing emissions is raw material procurement and preprocessing.
%
kg CO2
Emission sources
89.30
6.56
Material procurement and preprocessing
Raw materials
4.80
22.10
Packaging
3.50
16.10
Inbound logistics
0.40
1.80
2.60
0.19
Production
Power
2.60
0.19
6.00
0.44
Distribution and storage
Outbound logistics
6.00
0.44
1.50
0.11
Disposal
Disposal
1.50
0.11
0.60
0.05
Unallocated processes
Unallocated processes
0.60
0.05
100.00
7.35
Total
SDG 13 – Climate action
Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) of our sustainable children’s jeans
Let’s turn our attention to the product side of things. We needed to know the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) of our sustainable children’s blue jeans so that we’d be able to adjust it if necessary and make the jeans climate-neutral. Knowing and understanding the data would enable us to make our entire product portfolio climate-neutral and identify potential for improvement.
The Product Carbon Footprint was calculated using the ‚cradle-to-customer plus end-of-life‘ approach, also considering emissions along the life cycle phases in the graph to the right. In the “cradle-to-customer plus end-of-life” approach, the focus of the calculation is on the processes that can be controlled by the producer. The emissions from the usage phase are mostly not controllable so they were not considered.
However, emissions that cannot be directly attributed to the product, but are necessary for production, such as staff commutes or business trips, were also included in the calculation as common emissions.
SDG 13 – Becoming climate neutral
We had to know precisely where we stand. So we dug deep with all our teams in Germany and Asia to assemble the data that would become the basis for calculating our CO2 emissions for everything from heating, electricity consumption and travel, to office supplies and printing. The goal was, of course, to find out where we have the most significant potential for reducing our emissions.
When we had all the data ready, ClimatePartner came in and calculated our very first Corporate Carbon Footprint (CCF). So now we knew and went to work on doing even better – to create a climate-neutral future for our company.
Sustainability
What we stand for
You care, your customers care.. That’s why we keep a close watch over the social performance of our value chain to make sure everyone plays by the rules. A full team at our headquarter is committed to monitoring and enforcing our CR (corporate responsibility) standards. We have been an active member of the amfori Business Social Compliance Initiative since 2008 and have incorporated BSCI and BEPI assessments and the amfori Code of Conduct into our CR standards.
The work of our CR professionals includes regular factory assessments, such as social and environmental / chemical assessments, and ongoing CAP follow-ups, which we conduct before we onboard suppliers and throughout the entire business relationship. Our local CR teams perform production traceability audits for all active oraders, and in Bangladesh, we specifically ensure compliance of our suppliers with the Accord/RSC requirements.
We do all that for two reasons: First, it’s the right thing to do. Secondly, so that you can relax in the knowledge that your brand’s high standards are upheld and protected with every order you place with us.
SDG 8 – Decent work and economic growth
For better working conditions – compliance on the ground
SDG 8 – Decent work and economic growth
Compliance at its best – our supplier mapping system
Over the years, we have developed a solid supplier mapping system that tells us at any given moment how our suppliers are doing in terms of compliance. We evaluate them regularly in our CR score framework to track their performance. A rigorous onboarding process, continuous development of existing partners, and constantly grooming new suppliers keeps our partner network healthy and ready to perform at the level you expect.
We maintain our standards by conducting regular in-person and virtual audits to guarantee that the living and working conditions of the factory workers conform to our internal standards and meet current international expectations.
Appointments
In addition to our unannounced audits, we conduct formal reviews.
Production site visit
During our site visits, we examine the compliance of all relevant environmental, safety and social standards, gather and review documentation and conduct interviews.
Off-site interviews
Talking to workers outside of the controlled environment of the factory leaves them free to express their views and allows us to gather unbiased information.
Assessments
We conclude the audit in a closing meeting with the factory management where we discuss the audit’s results, develop a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) for improving social and environmental compliance and establish a timeline for corrective action, including relevant training.
Data capture
The relevant data points of the audit results and any specified corrective action are entered into our compliance software so that our CR team can evaluate and track the producer.
Our direction – the UN SDGs
What are SDGs? In 2015, the United Nations members adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. At its heart are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are guidelines to help ensure that economic growth can happen in line with social justice while protecting the environment. That’s where we take our lead from.
Out of the 17 goals, we focus on the three that best reflect what we do and where we can ensure a significant impact. That includes our contribution to promoting sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, with productive employment and decent work for all (SDG #8). At the same time, we produce apparel that helps ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns (SDG #12). Last but not least, and within our means as an SME, we combat climate change and its impacts (SDG #13) with special projects and as a part of every workday. Let‘s take a look at how we do all that.
Our direction – the UN SDGs
What are SDGs? In 2015, the United Nations members adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. At its heart are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are guidelines to help ensure that economic growth can happen in line with social justice while protecting the environment. That’s where we take our lead from.
Out of the 17 goals, we focus on the three that best reflect what we do and where we can ensure a significant impact. That includes our contribution to promoting sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, with productive employment and decent work for all (SDG #8). At the same time, we produce apparel that helps ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns (SDG #12). Last but not least, and within our means as an SME, we combat climate change and its impacts (SDG #13) with special projects and as a part of every workday. Let‘s take a look at how we do all that.
SDG 12 – Responsible consumption and production
Rieker has control over the full supply chain
We analyse the environmental impact of each individual production step along our supply chain to gradually reduce it.
Cotton field
The journey begins in the cotton fields, where GMO-free organic cotton is cultivated with less water and non-hazardous, mainly organic fertilisers.
Spinning
At the spinning facility, the organic cotton, which was ginned in a previous step, is spun into yarn.
Weaving/knitting
The yarn is either woven into fabric or knitted using various knitting technologies such as circular knitting.
Dyeing
Our suppliers using the latest environmentally friendly dyeing technologies, and the wastewater is treated in an ETP.
Washing
Using ozone washing, our suppliers can drastically reduce chemicals and don’t use water. In standard washing processes, our suppliers take care to recycle as much water as possible and to reuse it in the production process.
Sewing
Finally, the garments are sewn with sustainable trims, made from the best, most environmentally friendly and durable materials wherever possible.
Shipping
We offer you carbon emission-reduced transportation through green shipping, carbon offsetting, and the use of eco vessels with state-of-the-art technology.
SDG 12 – Responsible consumption and production
Product sustainability
A product stands a better chance of being environmentally friendly when its raw materials look good in terms of their consumption of water, fertilisers, energy, and chemicals. So, let’s take a closer look at how that works out for the raw materials usage in our popular denim and quilted jacket products.
In 2020, a full 88% of the products we delivered to our customers were sourced entirely from sustainable materials or materials certified by 3rd parties. Comparing 2021 output to 2020, the numbers look even better. Our suppliers processed 400% more GOTS certified cotton in 2021 than in 2020. By 2025, we’re looking to produce almost 100% using sustainable materials.
For our non-cotton products, we also strive to maximise our use of sustainable resources. Take our down jackets and vests, for instance, which are all made of Recycled Down Standard (RDS) materials. In 2020, we delivered almost 180,000 RDS certified pieces. We expect to double that amount in 2021 and have also already started to produce and sell products made of recycled polyester.
Use of GOTS certified cotton and recycled polyester (tons)
We’re looking good here. The first Carbon Footprint for our headquarters and our foreign branches is based on the internationally recognized Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (GHG Protocol). It comprises a total of 456.90 t CO2 for 2020. That puts our output at an average level for our number of employees and sales volume. But we’re already poised to do better than that. Our full switch to green power in 2021 will reduce our footprint by 53.3 t CO2 or 11.6%. By offsetting all of our CO2 emissions, we have managed to become climate neutral for 2020. We’re proud of that accomplishment.
1,418,949
kilometers driven with
a passenger car
36,552
beech trees with their annual carbon sequestration
54
European citizens with their annual Carbon Footprint
SDG 13 – Climate action
Our Corporate Carbon Footprint in 2020
456.90 t
CO2 in 2020 corresponds to ...
How we imagine the future
Together with our partners, we set the course for a future where we reward the trust and exceed the expectations of our global clients. We will do this by offering innovative, sustainable apparel that has been manufactured under humane conditions, is affordable to many, and employs our technical expertise to protect the environment through resource-conserving production and conscious use of materials.
We look to achieve many of our long-term goals by improving our global standing through the use of digitalization tools, offsetting emissions that we cannot prevent, and developing fully biodegradable products that offer tangible added value to our customers. We create our future by using our creativity, talent, skills, resources, knowledge, and exceptional staff to introduce innovative products and services that will be in high demand in the markets we serve.
Our vision is a bright and prosperous future driven by a strong mission, a culture of ownership and a clear strategy that every one of us is on board with every day.
SDG 13 – Climate action
Corporate Carbon Footprint
The report differentiates our emissions into three categories (scopes):
Scope 1 are emissions directly caused by us: 39.8 t CO2 (8.7%)
Scope 2 are indirect emissions from energy we purchased: 111.7 t CO2 (24.5%)
Scope 3 are other indirect emissions we cannot manage: 305.3 t CO2 (66.8%).
It turns out that at 43.8%, our most significant source of emissions is employee commuting, followed by electricity at 24.5% and emissions from flights with 10.8%.
Emissions
%
t CO2
Source
Scope 1
Vehicle fleet
4.80
22.10
Heating
3.50
16.10
Cooling agents
0.40
1.80
Subtotal scope 1
39.80
8.70
Scope 2
Electricity
24.50
111.70
District cooling
0.00
0.00
Externally generated heat
0.00
0.00
Subtotal scope 2
24.50
111.70
Scope 3
Employee commuting
43.80
200.20
Flights
10.80
49.30
Upstream emissions of heating/cooling
6.90
31.30
Upstream emissions of electricity
4.20
19.10
Teleworking
0.70
3.10
Train trips
0.30
1.40
Rental cars/private vehicles
0.20
1.00
Subtotal scope 3
100.00
305.30
100.00
456.90
Total
SDG 13 – Climate action
Corporate Carbon Footprint
We see more improvement potential for the 24.4% that comprise our electricity consumption. As of the second half of 2021, our main building has been switched over to 100% green power, which means that our 2021 footprint will already look a lot better than 2020.
Since many of our business relationships are located in Asia, a certain amount of air travel will remain inevitable in the future. Still, if Covid has taught us anything, it is perhaps that we can accomplish a lot more than we thought by communicating remotely. So, flying less looks feasible.
SDG 13 – Becoming climate neutral
We had to know precisely where we stand. So we dug deep with all our teams in Germany and Asia to assemble the data that would become the basis for calculating our CO2 emissions for everything from heating, electricity consumption and travel, to office supplies and printing. The goal was, of course, to find out where we have the most significant potential for reducing our emissions.
When we had all the data ready, ClimatePartner came in and calculated our very first Corporate Carbon Footprint (CCF). So now we knew and went to work on doing even better – to create a climate-neutral future for our company.
SDG 8 – Decent work and economic growth
Our sourcing countries
We source only from countries where we can ensure that our supplier partners fully comply with international social and environmental standards and our rigorous Corporate Responsibility requirements.
We started to focus our procurement on Asia back in the 1990s because it offered the right conditions with respect to production partners who are ready to support us in all sustainability-related requirements. Thanks to our local presence and decades-long experience in countries like Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and China, we know exactly where to find the product quality you need and the social and environmental compliance we require.
We only work with partners who specialize in export quality and have passed our stringent compliance onboarding process. Our local CR team regularly supports our suppliers with training and conducts systematic audits to ensure absolute compliance.
We built sustainability into our DNA many years ago. Thinking long-term based on solid values made us prosper. We’re never going to change that.
Sustainability is the principle that guides every decision we make. It is reflected in the respectful and appreciative approach we bring to our relationships with our customers, employees, and suppliers. And it pays off in the efficient, high-performance use of the resources that go into the products we make for you.
For you and us, sustainability is good business.
Explore the possibilities
Better products come from sustainable methods and materials.
SDG 12 – Responsible consumption and production
Sustainable raw materials
The materials we use account for a significant portion of our emissions and their environmental impacts. That means we can make a difference by working with the right fabrics.
As the graph on the right shows, we’re already doing well in that area – we are proud that almost 80% of the apparel we sold across all product categories in 2020 is made from sustainable raw materials. But we are on a continuous quest to use even more sustainable fibres.
Our goal is to reduce conventional cotton to zero as quickly as possible and increase the proportion of cotton in conversion or organic cotton.
SDG 12 – Responsible consumption and production
Product sustainability
The materials we use account for a significant portion of our emissions and their environmental impacts. That means we can make a difference by working with the right fabrics.
As the graph on the right shows, we’re already doing well in that area – we are proud that almost 80% of the apparel we sold across all product categories in 2020 is made from sustainable raw materials. But we are on a continuous quest to use even more sustainable fibres.
Our goal is to reduce conventional cotton to zero as quickly as possible and increase the proportion of cotton in conversion or organic cotton.
Use of GOTS certified cotton and recycled polyester (tons)
SDG 13 – Climate action
Corporate Carbon Footprint
The fact that at 43.8 %, employee commutes account for such a significant portion of our emissions surprised us. Even though our headquarters are rural, many of our employees already commute by public transport or ride their bikes. In addition to that, we have also invested in electric wall chargers to support electric mobility.
We see more improvement potential for the 24.4% that comprise our electricity consumption. As of the second half of 2021, our main building has been switched over to 100% green power, which means that our 2021 footprint will already look a lot better than 2020.
Since many of our business relationships are located in Asia, a certain amount of air travel will remain inevitable in the future. Still, if Covid has taught us anything, it is perhaps that we can accomplish a lot more than we thought by communicating remotely. So, flying less looks feasible.
SDG 13 – Climate action
Product Carbon Footprint of our sustainable children’s jeans
Let’s turn our attention to the product side of things. We needed to know the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) of our sustainable children’s blue jeans so that we’d be able to adjust it if necessary and make the jeans climate-neutral. Knowing and understanding the data would enable us to make our entire product portfolio climate-neutral and identify potential for improvement.
The Product Carbon Footprint was calculated using the ‚cradle-to-customer plus end-of-life‘ approach, also considering emissions along the life cycle phases in the graph to the right. In the “cradle-to-customer plus end-of-life” approach, the focus of the calculation is on the processes that can be controlled by the producer. The emissions from the usage phase are mostly not controllable so they were not considered.
However, emissions that cannot be directly attributed to the product, but are necessary for production, such as staff commutes or business trips, were also included in the calculation as common emissions.
