C&A reveals progress made on its first sustainability report

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
May 24, 2016

C&A released its first Global Sustainability Report on Tuesday, outlining the company’s 2015 progress toward its 2020 goals.

The retailer aims to use more sustainable raw materials, reduce its environmental impact and create a culture of sustainability among employees by 2020.

"In 2015, we focused on building strong governance and accountability to support our new sustainability strategy. Building sustainability into our business management system has been crucial to supporting our aspiration to create fashion with a positive impact," said Jeffrey Hogue, C&A's Global Chief Sustainability Officer.

In 2015 C&A increased the volume of more sustainable cotton used to 40%, and was named for the third time the world's largest user of organic cotton by the Textile Exchange. By 2020, the company plans to source 100% of its cotton from more sustainable suppliers.

Last year the fashion-retail business also achieved 90% of its shipped volume from top-rated suppliers. To reach its goal of only sourcing from A and B suppliers, C&A rolled out a new global Code of Conduct and trained sourcing teams and suppliers worldwide.

100% of the factories that produce C&A clothing were audited last year, said the retailer.

Other 2015 highlights include the first carbon and water footprint measurement, the creation of a sustainable chemicals management team to develop safer chemical formulations and became a signatory to the UN Global Compact, a sustainability initiative championing universal principles on human rights.

C&A is divided into four units, C&A Mexico, C&A Brazil, C&A China and C&A Europe. The latter is the largest region with 1,575 stores in 20 countries, while the Mexican arm is the smallest with 75 stores in 40 cities. Globally, the business has more than 60,000 employees and welcomes more than 2.5 million visitors each day.