Product Responsibility
Recycled Content
Products characterized as containing Recycled Content are comprised of over fifty percent (50%) recycled content by fabric weight. Sources include post-consumer waste, like the plastic bottles used in our line of Polartec® recycled fleece products, and/or post-industrial waste, such as fabric scrap generated in production facilities. The North Face® products highlighted here contain over fifty percent (50%) recycled content.
Benefits
Incorporating recycled materials into our products helps prevent the flow of waste to landfills and reduces the need to extract non-renewable petroleum resources from the earth. We focus on improvements in our largest volume fabrics to make the biggest difference each season. We are working hard to bring more recycled content into our fabric collections and have set a goal to have thirty percent (30%) recycled content in all of our apparel by 2015.
bluesign® Approved Fabric
The North Face® products carrying the bluesign® Approved Fabric label contain fabrics/semi finished goods that were manufactured according to the bluesign® standard and meet the highest criteria regarding consumer protection, resource efficiency and occupational health and safety. At least ninety percent (90%) of the fabric by area must by bluesign® approved for the product to qualify for this label. The North Face® products highlighted here meet this criteria.
We are proud of the work we have done in partnership with bluesign® technologies to achieve bluesign® Approved Fabric designation in a number of The North Face® products. Many more of our products are close to reaching ninety percent (90%), and we are working hard to convert more materials in our collection to bluesign® approval.
By supporting the bluesign® standard, The North Face can focus not only on creating high performing, quality products but also on assuming greater responsibility for our consumers and the environment by minimizing the ecological impact of our supply chains.
Benefits
Average Savings due to implementation of the bluesign® Standard
| Impact Category |
Woven Fabrics |
Knitted Fabrics |
Yard for Fully Fashion Knittings |
| Water (liters/kg of fabric) | 21.56 | 24.75 |
14.3 |
| Energy (kWh/kg of fabric) |
1.41 |
1.2 |
0.6 |
| Chemicals (lbs/kg fabric) |
0.193 |
0.118 |
0.085 |
Supply Chain Environmental Savings for The North Face® Products
| Impact Category |
2010 |
2011 | Total Savings | Equivalency |
| Water |
21 million gallons |
35 million gallons |
56 million gallons |
85 Olympic swimming pools of water |
| Energy |
7.8 million kWh | 7.8 million kWh |
12.5 million kWh |
1,153 Cars off the Road for a Year |
| Chemicals |
604,480 lbs | 965,163 lbs | 1.6 million lbs |
38 tanker trucks |
**Average volume of a tanker truck is 500 gallons
One of the key elements of the bluesign® standard is to identify resource savings potential, mainly for water, energy and chemicals. During the bluesign® screening process, extensive data on resource consumption is collected—from the overall use in the mill down to single process steps and machines. Based on the knowledge and expertise of bluesign® technologies, the optimal resource usage for the existing processes and product portfolio is then calculated. The actual values are compared to reference values that bluesign® technologies has calculated from their historical on-site visits.
The actual savings are reviewed in the course of periodic re-screenings of the manufacturing sites, which also help to continuously improve the environmental performance of these sites.
While the data bluesign technologies’ collects from textile mills is confidential, The North Face® has an agreement that gives us high level, anonymous, aggregated data on key metrics from our bluesign® screened suppliers. This allows us to track the environmental impacts of the program from year to year. We are extremely proud of the savings we have realized as a result of implementing this system –a testament to our strategy of identifying and addressing our biggest impacts first.
The bluesign® Standard – More Information
The bluesign® standard brings together the entire textile manufacturing supply chain to jointly reduce the ecological footprint of the apparel production process. Instead of focusing on finished product testing, the bluesign®standard analyses all input streams – from raw materials and chemical components to resources – with a sophisticated “Input Stream Management” process. Prior to production, components are assessed based on their eco-toxicological impact and risk. Potentially harmful substances can hence beeliminated before production even begins.
The bluesign® standard addresses consumers’ growing desire for quality products that also meet the highest criteria regarding sustainability. Due to its holistic and systematic approach, the bluesign® standard ensures that components and procedures used along the supply chain are as harmless to human beings and the environment as possible. Products made according the bluesign® standard thus meet the highest standards of consumer protection, resource efficiency, and workerhealth and safety.
Certification process:
1. bluesign® screening of the textile mill
A comprehensive on-site evaluation of input streams and manufacturing processes is performed with a view to comply with the bluesign® standard.
2. Implementation of recommendations
After the bluesign® screening, recommended corrective actions are implemented to meet the requirements of the bluesign® standard.
3. Certification
After successful implementation, relevant articles can be certified according to the bluesign® standard.
For more information visit bluesign.com.
