The Telgte textile discounter Takko Fashion published its first sustainability report on Wednesday and thus provides information on the goals and measures in the areas of environment, social affairs and corporate governance (ESG) in the spirit of transparency. The sustainability report is to be published annually from now on, with the next one planned for May 2024.
“The ESG framework makes it particularly clear that Takko Fashion is already very far in the area of social affairs, partly because we have been working together with the Fair Wear Foundation to improve working conditions in the production countries for twelve years. We want to continue and expand these activities, while in the future we will also further increase our measures in the area of the environment and set ourselves ambitious goals,” comments ESG boss Dirk Stolz in a press release.
materials
The Sustainability Report 2022/23 sets out the goal in the area of materials that the company wants to obtain 100 percent of the cotton required in production from more sustainable cultivation by 2027. In the 2022/23 financial year, the proportion was 55 percent sustainable cotton via the Better Cotton Initiative.
“In perspective, by 2030, 90 percent of the products should consist of sustainable or recycled materials,” says the company. By this time, the proportion of sustainable viscose should also be 100 percent.
Interested parties can read in the sustainability report what Takko understands by more sustainable materials and how the total amount of fibers is divided into natural fibers and man-made fibers. The company also comments on the chemicals used and wants to achieve that by 2027 80 percent of its suppliers use ZDHC-compliant chemicals.
animal welfare
Takko is a member of the Fur Free Retailer program and categorically prohibits the use of any materials derived from wild animals, including those derived from exotic, threatened or endangered species. Angora, alpaca, down, feathers, merino, mohair, fur and silk are therefore not used. By 2030, 100 percent of the animal materials in Takko products should be certified according to a recognized standard.
“Basically, we only use animal materials to a very small extent, depending on the season it is leather, wool and cashmere (cashmere for the first time from 2023). The share of leather in the total weight of our sourced fibers was 0.03 percent in the 2022/2023 financial year and 0.05 percent of wool,” according to the report.
climate protection
In terms of environmental impact, Takko aims to reduce its Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 30 percent by 2030 in order to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, in line with the German government’s climate targets.
In the area of energy efficiency, Takko intends to convert another 560 branches to LED in the 2023/2024 financial year. By 2027, 80 percent of the supply companies should submit a wastewater report according to at least the ZDHC Foundational level.
“I’m very proud to see a wave of approval and support for our vision, ‘We dress the world — with respect for people and planet’ in our company. In order to intensify and further accelerate our sustainability activities, we created an ESG department in the past financial year that reports directly to the management. In addition, we already employ 28 people in the CSR area, who also audit our suppliers in the production countries,” explains CEO Tjeerd Jegen. “The next important steps for our teams are, for example, the calculation of the total Scope 1-3 emissions and the implementation of ecological measures in the supply chain.”
partnerships
Strategic partnerships are also important for the textile discounter, which works with initiatives such as the Fair Wear Foundation and the Alliance for Sustainable Textiles. He has also recently been certified for the Global Recycled Standard (GRS) and Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) and started sourcing the more sustainable viscose fiber Ecovero from Lenzing in 2022.
The sustainability report contributes to the transparency of the company and sets out Takko’s value chain and the choice of suppliers, including the code of conduct for them and other business partners. It also breaks down the internal audits conducted in FY22/23, namely 304 in Bangladesh, 122 in China, 26 in India, 11 in Myanmar and 1 in Pakistan.
Production in Myanmar
In the report, Takko also comments on production in Myanmar – the company works with twelve production sites in the country as well as Fair Wear Myanmar and “pays strict attention to the implementation of our Code of Conduct and measures to improve working conditions on site”.
“In addition to Fair Wear, we will join EuroCham Myanmar (European Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar) and the EU-funded project MADE (Multi-Stakeholder Alliance for Decent Employment in the Myanmar Apparel Industry) in the 2023/24 financial year in order to fulfill our due diligence obligations in to meet Myanmar to an increased extent. We are also in close contact with the MGMA (Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association), an independent trade association for the clothing sector in Myanmar, and with other members of Fair Wear. Despite the difficult conditions in Myanmar, we want to continue to work to improve working conditions and, above all, to respect human rights in Myanmar,” the report says.
Overall, Takko’s first sustainability report is a step in the right direction, contributing to the company’s transparency and consumer information. For the future, it would be desirable to name concrete measures on how certain goals are to be achieved.