“Today, the question is not if we want to reduce our environmental footprint,
but rather how we turn our commitment into concrete actions.”
- Sharif Nehal Rahman , BLO Sustainability Manager
CARBON FOOTPRINT
In 2022, we worked together with external partners to measure our carbon emissions across our supply chain.
We based our approach on the widely accepted GHG Protocol accounting standard along with the Bilan Carbone® method and calculated all the carbon emissions at each stage, from raw and recycled material production, manufacturing of the products, decoration by our Official Dealers, to product use and end of life.
For most of the stages we have been able to gather real data. For others, such as cotton farming and end-consumer use and end of life, we’ve used standard data from the Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME) and other organisations.
The total CO2 emissions for 2021 amount to 90,300 tons, of which less than 1% are scope 1 and 2 emissions; the remaining 99% are scope 3 emissions.* Based on these findings, we will establish a detailed action plan to reduce and compensate our carbon emissions.
* Scope 1 covers direct emissions from our owned or controlled sources. Scope 2 covers indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heating, and cooling consumed by us. Scope 3 includes all other indirect emissions that occur across our value chain.
WATER
We treat water as the invaluable resource it is.
Across our entire supply chain, we aim to minimise the amount of water used and reduce its contamination. Just like for all agricultural production, water is a critical input for the successful cultivation of organic cotton. However, unlike for conventional cotton, water used in organic farming is not contaminated by harmful chemicals, thereby avoiding unwanted negative effects on soil and biodiversity.
Water is also used for dyeing and washing textiles, and inevitably generates water-based toxic waste. All our partner factories have on-site Effluent Treatment Plants (ETPs), in line with legal requirements, and have in-house specialists and testing facilities.* This ensures that wastewater can be treated and then released back into nature without harming the environment.
At some of our partner factories, the treated wastewater is also used for car washing and gardening.
The remaining solid waste is typically preserved for several months until it solidifies fully, and is then sent to contracted brick fields where it is used as fuel.
* To ensure the safety of the treated was-tewater, tests are done for pH, DO, BOD, COD and TDS both on-site and in govern-ment laboratories.
pH: pH is a scale used to specify the aci-dity or basicity of an aqueous solution.
DO: Dissolved Oxygen (DO) is the amount of gaseous oxygen (O2) dissol-ved in water.
BOD: Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) is the amount of oxygen consumed by bacteria while decomposing organic matter under aerobic conditions.
COD: Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) is the amount of oxygen required for the chemical oxidation of total organic matter in water.
TDS: Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) repre-sents the total concentration of dissolved substances in water. TDS is made up of inorganic salts, as well as a small amount of organic matter.
