One year after joining the sustainability-minded Fashion Pact, Spanish fast-fashion firm Mango is taking new steps to fight climate change and protect the oceans.
In October, the high-street chain signed the United Nations Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, which sets out 16 principles so that the fashion industry can work together to reduce its sizable contribution to climate change. These principles aim to reduce greenhouse gases in facilities, the supply chain and in logistics.
“This agreement clearly demonstrates that the fashion industry is committed to acting together on climate change, an example of the commitment by the sector necessary to deal with the scale of the climate challenge,” Beatriz Bayo, Mango’s corporate social responsibility director, said in a statement.
The charter includes the goal to reduce greenhouse gases by 30 percent by 2030. Consequently, the fast-fashion retailer is conducting a detailed study of its carbon footprint, which it said will allow it to establish certain science-based targets throughout 2021 and draft a corresponding plan to reduce its emissions.
The clothing company has also been working to prioritize the use of environmentally friendly materials, announcing at the beginning of this year its intention to increase the proportion of sustainable fibers in its collections, planning for 100 percent of the cotton used in its garments to be of sustainable origin by 2025. Mango also plans to increase the use of recycled polyester in its garments, aiming for a 50-percent increase by 2025 and for 100 percent of the cellulose fibers used to be of controlled origin by 2030.
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Simultaneously, Mango recently initiated a project to replace the plastic bags in its packaging with paper bags. This involves eliminating, progressively and in collaboration with its suppliers, all the plastic bags it uses to distribute its products throughout the supply chain, approximately 160 million plastic bags per year.
The Barcelona-based company’s project will launch in the local production of folded garments and in the online channel, following successful pilot trials conducted in Morocco, China and Turkey. Mango plans to implement this new project for all its garments by the end of 2021. The new bags will be made of tissue paper sourced from sustainably managed forests, where the practices adopted for felling trees are certified as compliant with the Forest Stewardship Council’s international standards.
The Fashion Pact formed last year to increase the environmental sustainability of the textile and fashion sectors. The coalition counted 32 groups and brands as its members when it began, and now the coalition unites CEOs of more than 60 companies, representing more than 200 brands and one-third of the fashion industry, it claims.