28 Sep Timberland Reports Progress Against CSR Goals
Approximately 44 percent of all cotton used in Timberland apparel in the second quarter was either organic, U.S.-origin or sourced from the Better Cotton Initiative, according to the company’s latest corporate social responsibility report.
Timberland also reported that 95.5 percent of its overall leather volume was produced at tanneries that have a Silver or Gold rating.
Timberland sourced from 357 factories in the second quarter. When audited for social and labor compliance, 99.5 percent of vendors met or exceeded the company’s compliance expectations. Orders with the few rejected factories were withheld until corrective actions were taken or production could be relocated.
In 2015, Timberland had a 13-percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 2014, which was a 53-percent reduction over the company’s 2006 baseline, ahead of its goal of 50 percent. The company’s use of renewable energy for 2015 was 32 percent versus 16.7 percent in 2014, attributable to the company’s Stratham, NH headquarters and several European sites converting to renewable energy sources of electricity.
Going forward, the company will be aligning future targets with parent company VF Corp.’s goals around energy reduction and renewable energy. Timberland’s 2020 CSR targets are to see a 10 percent reduction in energy use (2 percent reduction year over year) and have 50 percent of its energy procured or offset by renewable sources.
Timberland employees worldwide served 25,406 hours year to date. A majority of projects completed during the second quarter were focused on the outdoors in support of Earth Day. Projects included rebuilding a community garden in the Bronx, cleaning up summer camps, building homes for Habitat for Humanity and planting trees in Zhuhai and Vietnam.