Gustav Daiber – the textile company behind garment brands James & Nicholson and Myrtle Beach – has committed to greater sustainability in its operations and products.
It has signed the WIN charter, a sustainability management system for small and medium-sized businesses developed for the state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany where it is based.
This commits the company to 12 principles of sustainable management and to constantly increasing its sustainability across the business, including the supply of garments distributed in the UK.
Managing director Kai Gminder said: “Energy and emissions, product responsibility and creating incentives for new ways of thinking are the focal points of future sustainability work.”
The WIN charter, or WIN-Charta in German, sets targets for Daiber to reach and measure and also shows its achievements in sustainability to date through a system aimed at creating transparency.
Steps already taken include the conversion of Daiber’s main base in Albstadt to 100% green electricity, which was completed in August.
Daiber also works with the non-profit Myclimate foundation, a provider of CO2 offsetting and carbon offsetting consultancy, and has been developing measures to reduce CO2 emissions since 2018.
Sustainable materials such as organic cotton and recycled polyester are increasingly being used for production and, where possible, it packages garments using recycled polybags.
It also produces its main catalogues in a “climate-neutral” manner every year with ClimatePartner, which helps organisations calculate and reduce carbon emissions.
Daiber is also building on its 10-year membership of Amfori’s Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI), which commits it to social benefits such as fair working conditions in the international supply chain.
It now plans to introduce Amfori’s Business Environmental Performance Initiative (BEPI) system which is focused on future environmental protection.
By being part of BEPI, Daiber plans to develop new initiatives for more responsible products and a more responsible value chain. Daiber has already done some work on this with its largest suppliers for its T-shirts, polo shirts and sweatshirts.
Kai added: “Long-term partnerships and close contact with suppliers are a matter of course for Daiber.”
James & Nicholson collections feature garments made with organic cotton and sportswear using fibres made from recycled PET. Both James & Nicholson and Myrtle Beach are distributed in the UK by Fusible Systems.
