ZDHC publishes second Impact Report
24/06/2021
In the wake of Greenpeace’s 2011 'Detox My Fashion' report, a coalition of fashion brands pledged to eliminate hazardous chemicals from their supply chains and stop polluting waterways by 2020. This was the start of the ‘zero discharge of hazardous chemicals’, now known as ZDHC.
The ZDHC Roadmap to Zero Programme has 163 contributors, comprising brands, manufacturers, chemical suppliers and solutions providers. During 2020, 15 brands and three “friends” joined ZDHC.
By the end of 2020, 1,427 chemical formulators use the ZDHC Gateway, and it publishes data on 42,939 chemical products. The suppliers who use it (4,670) are able to review and analyse key information on chemical products to determine whether they conform with the ZDHC MRSL. The ZDHC Gateway, which provides the data, now includes nearly 7,500 published wastewater test reports from 87 ZDHC accepted wastewater testing labs.
The number of suppliers on the ZDHC Gateway increased by 41% in 2020 compared to the previous year. The number of wastewater test reports published on the platform has increased 52% since 2019.
In 2020, it introduced electronic data reporting (EDR) for laboratories that conduct suppliers’ wastewater tests. This has resulted in significantly better quality and more complete data on the ZDHC Gateway, it said.
In 2020 it launched Brands to Zero and Supplier to Zero, and will launch a chemicals-focused target by the end of this year. It says this will “enable the holistic evaluation of chemical formulations for sustainability attributes for manufacturers and brands to make informed choices that lead to using more sustainable chemistries”.
Mia Gunawan, sustainability manager for chemical and global sustainability at H&M Group, said: “By providing us with the necessary data and tools, ZDHC Gateway has been instrumental for H&M Group in securing our supply chain is free from hazardous chemicals.
“Through ZDHC Gateway, our suppliers’ 500+ facilities are able to select chemicals that are tested and reviewed according to ZDHC MRSL. This has been the key step in securing 100% ZDHC MRSL compliance. Drawing from the concept of MRSL, we believe that a proper management of chemical input is essential for the subsequent processes to achieve sustainable production.”
ZDHC has renewed its call for collaborative action and commitment to safer chemistry as the global fashion market is likely to grow again following the pandemic. Despite the progress, “our job is far from done”, concluded the report’s authors.
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