The St. Gallen Bluesign Technologies AG, sustainability pioneer for the textile industry, has taken stock and evaluated what the cooperation has brought the affiliated companies over the past ten years.
What does it mean for a company’s CO2 footprint and resource consumption when it professionally starts to scrutinize critical production processes with the help of the Bluesign system? Bluesign Technologies AG has now tried to answer exactly this question and compiled a balance sheet for the years 2010 to 2020. The Bluesign System is a comprehensive approach to improving the impact of the textile industry by focusing on resources, people and the environment. The dyeing and finishing stage within textile manufacturing has the greatest impact on climate change and energy use in apparel production, and ranks second for fresh water use.
Reduction of CO2 emissions
Overall, the Bluesign System Partners have saved an average of 3,500 tons of CO2 per factory over the past ten years. This corresponds to an average reduction of twelve percent per factory. This is interesting because the largest CO2 emissions of a product occur during the manufacturing phase, so this is where the greatest pressure is given given the ongoing deadlines to achieve carbon neutrality.
Less water, less chemicals
The results for resource consumption are even more meaningful. The system partners have reduced their water consumption by an average of 170 million liters and thus by 18 percent – per factory. A saving of 341 tons per factory was achieved in the use of chemicals, which corresponds to 17 percent. At the same time, the proportion of chemicals approved by Bluesign has increased by 76 percent. The cooperation with Bluesign has also paid off when it comes to energy consumption: a total of 4500 MWh could be saved per factory, which corresponds to a reduction of five percent.
Solid strategy and data required
“With the Bluesign system, we help our customers better understand their value chain and make more informed decisions with verified data from on-site assessments. The results of our impact work could not come at a more important time as voluntary commitments call for industry to halve their emissions by 2030,” said Daniel Rüfenacht, CEO of Bluesign. “Commitments of this magnitude need to be based on a solid strategy and good data, taking a systems approach that considers all aspects of the production process. It’s not just about the results, it’s also about the inputs. Bluesign’s Input Stream Management System eliminates hazardous chemicals from the start of production, ensuring safe products with less impact on people and the environment.”
Bluesign: Pioneer for sustainability
Bluesign Technologies AG was founded in Switzerland in 2000 and has its roots in textile chemistry. In order to make the textile industry more environmentally friendly worldwide, the company has developed the holistic “Bluesign System”, which is based on the principle of input stream management. That means it excludes environmentally harmful substances from the manufacturing process right from the start and can thus ensure sustainable production and safe products. Bluesign considers all impacts on people, the environment and resource consumption. The aim is to reduce the ecological footprint along the entire value chain. Products can also bear the seal if they were manufactured in certified production facilities and with certified materials.