Our environment is facing a range of challenges that the fashion industry needs to tackle. Everyone from manufacturers, to brands and consumers has a role to play in this. Sandqvist is focusing on four areas where we think we can make a positive impact: climate change, chemicals, biodiversity and water issues.

Chemicals are used in the manufacturing of all textile products. To minimize the impact that these chemicals can have on the environment, we have strict requirements on what chemicals can be used in the production process. Our requirements are in line with best practices within the textile industry and legislation in our sales countries, in and outside the EU.

Our fabrics and weaves in organic cotton are only treated with substances and dyes approved for organic materials. Where possible, the synthetic material we use is certified regarding chemical content. In addition to this, we also perform risk based chemical testing on our products.

Sandqvist has been part of the industry initiative STICA (Swedish Textile Initiative for Climate Action) since 2020. The purpose of STICA is to support the apparel and textile industries and their stakeholders in the Nordic region to, at minimum, reduce greenhouse gases in line with 1.5° C warming pathway, as outlined by the United Nations Framework on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement. Read more about STICA and find all previous progress reports here.

Aligned with the Paris Agreement and “the Carbon law” (which states that we need to half our impact every decade), Sandqvist goal is to decrease our carbon emissions with 50% (in absolute terms) until 2030, with 2020 as the base year. This target is well-integrated in our business strategy and our Responsible Business Conduct policy as well as in our internal environmental policy, which steers our operations. As part of the process with our new sustainability strategy during 2022, this target has been validated and reflected in each internal department’s goals and communicated to suppliers.

As required by STICA, Sandqvist has been conducting, and reporting, our climate calculations based on the STICA guidelines and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, since 2020. In 2021, our actions regarding minimizing air freights of goods, moving to 3D-sampling and streamlining our ordering process, resulted in a decrease of our carbon footprint (in scope 3) with 26% in absolute terms.

The textile and leather industries are big contributors to the pollution of water worldwide, however Sandqvist is set on minimising our water impact. We can do this by strictly controlling the chemicals used throughout our supply chain, making sure chemical management of our suppliers is in keeping with best practices and that water is conserved at all steps of production.

The cornerstones of our water work are our chemical policy, the use of organic cotton and Leather Working Group rating of our tanneries.