Coats commits to ZDHC Programme and reports latest CR performance
- 03 May 2016
Coats, the world’s leading industrial thread manufacturer, has joined the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) Programme which aims to scale efforts to eliminate hazardous chemicals from the global footwear and textile supply chain. The Programme’s vision is to have ZDHC guidelines and tools become the accepted industry standard.
Launched by six leading brands in 2011, the ZDHC Programme has since grown to 22 signatory brands, four value-chain affiliates and three associate contributions. Coats has joined as a value-chain affiliate.
Frank Michel, Executive Director, The ZDHC Foundation, said: ‘We’re excited to see growing industry support for greener chemistry practices, and encourage others within the textile and footwear industries to follow the lead taken by ZDHC brands, now including Coats, towards this end.’
This announcement coincides with Coats publishing its Corporate Responsibility (CR) reporting to reflect performance in 2015 for its global operations. Now in its fifth year, the reporting gives a comprehensive overview of Coats’ activity and progress in the area of CR. As well as updated data, it also includes a wide range of performance and case study details from across the Group. In line with prior years, it continues to report against the requirements of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).
Highlights from the period include:
- Achieving a 7% reduction in overall carbon footprint compared to 2014 - through a combination of investments in energy efficiency measures and new technology
- Ongoing reduction in water usage – by more than 12% since 2013 – as well as generating 22% less waste per unit of production than four years ago
- Continuing high levels of overall employee engagement – score of 83%, which keeps Coats in the top 10% of all globally surveyed companies
David Manns, Head of Corporate Responsibility, Coats, said: ‘I am encouraged that our CR performance continues to show an ongoing improvement in our manufacturing operations and the impact we have on the world around us.
‘In 2015 we revisited our materiality assessment analysis and expanded the scope of our reporting to cover a wider range of issues of importance to us and our stakeholders, including more detail about the way we engage with our stakeholders, our tax strategy and our economic contribution to wider communities.’
For further information visit www.coats.com/cr
ENDS
For more information on ZDHC go to: www.roadmaptozero.com
For more information contact:
Kristina Blissett, Head of Communications kristina.blissett@coats.com
T +44 (0)208 210 5084, M +44 (0)7714 539887
Notes to Editors
About Coats
Coats is the world’s leading industrial thread manufacturer and a major player in the Americas textile crafts market. At home in some 60 countries, Coats employs 19,000 people across six continents. Revenues in 2016 were US$1.5bn.
Coats’ pioneering history and innovative culture ensure the company leads the way around the world: providing complementary and value added products and services to the apparel and footwear industries; applying innovative techniques to develop high technology Performance Materials threads and yarns in areas such as automotive, composites and fibre optics; and extending the crafts offer into new markets and online.
Headquartered in the UK, Coats is a FTSE 250 listed company on the London Stock Exchange.
- Each year we make enough thread to go into 8 billion pairs of jeans - that’s one for every person on the planet
- Every month Coats produces enough thread to stretch all the way to the sun
- More than 450 million pairs of shoes are made every year using Coats’ thread
- More than 100 million car airbags are made using Coats’ Performance Materials thread every year
- In 1879 Thomas Edison used Coats’ thread in his experiments to invent the light bulb
- Our Red Heart knitting and crochet yarn brand has been named ‘America’s Most Recommended’ by the Women’s Choice Award for three years running
- Our flame retardant Performance Materials threads can withstand temperatures as high as 1,000 degrees Celsius
- Coats is the second largest supplier of zips to global brands