Sourcing & Production

Masterclass: Reduce Your Manufacturing Carbon Footprint

Our Masterclass series takes an in-depth look at pressing sustainability issues. For this edition we picked the brains of industry experts for their practical tips on how brands can tackle carbon emissions in their supply chains without breaking the bank. We also reveal best practice examples of brands who are leading the charge.

Which brands are leading on scope 3 emissions? What does current best practice look like? What affordable tools and resources can brands use to tackle emissions in their supply chains? How can brands move beyond mitigating impact to a climate positive strategy? What are the quick wins that are good for business as well as the environment?

Get answers to these and many more questions in our Masterclass recording and downloadable manual.

Download CO's curated masterclass manual which pulls together key facts and figures, and a list of relevant suppliers and content on CO

Our guest speakers

We spoke to:

Kathleen Buckingham, director of sustainability at Canadian casualwear brand and CO Award winner, Tentree
Mr GS Periwal, CEO of Norlanka, a leading Sri Lankan manufacturer supplying global high street brands
Pilar Prior Fernández, leading expert on ESG strategies, who headed up CSR and Sustainability for AWWG (Pepe, Hackett, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Pepe Jeans).

We discussed…

Fashion’s reliance on the most polluting of all fossil fuels

We learnt that textile processing and garment production account for 33 percent of greenhouse gas emissions (source: McKinsey & CO Fashion On Climate Report, 2020) and is not on currently heavily reliant on coal, but with new coal plants planned or under construction in many garment producing countries, is likely to be so for a considerable amount of time.

Why reliable data is vital

If there was one key theme from the Masterclass, it was data. The need for accurate, reliable data and how to collect it in a manageable way. Kathleen Buckingham talked about Textile Genesis, an end-to-end block chain enabled traceability project that Tentree are taking part in which will give them reliable fibre traceability data to inform strategy.

Pull quote: “Without the data you cannot measure, you cannot monitor and you cannot change” Kathleen Buckingham, Tentree

Pilar Prior Fernández described how every different company has a different method to measure its carbon footprint and emphasised the need for standardised data.

What affordable tools you can use to map emissions

For small companies wanting to map their carbon emissions, using systems that already exist is key. Kathleen gave examples of existing tools brands can use to access data such as the Higg Index.

Pilar’s tips? Suppliers are already measuring what they are doing. You can start to collate and synthesise the data from your long term suppliers. She described how there are also start-ups that can help smaller businesses map their emissions without the need to pay for expensive tools such as the SBTi.

Why factory level innovations are good for business

We heard from GS Periwal, CEO of Norlanka Manufacturing, on how sustainability can be good for business. Installing solar panels reduced their factory temperature by 2-3 degrees in the factory, which helped to boost productivity.

How to adopt a climate positive approach

Tentree shared how their roadmap titled The Restorative Agenda contains two distinct approaches. Planet Forward, which is all about reducing their impact in their supply chain and Planet Positive, which focuses on doing more good. For Tentree this second approach includes launching a regenerative farming project with suppliers.