We focus on the sustainability performance of the materials from which our products are made. When you are determined to make a change, you have to start right at the beginning.
Over half of PUMA’s environmental impacts happen when the main raw materials for our products such as polyester, cotton and leather are produced. To tackle this issue head on, we have therefore set ambitious targets to be fulfilled. By 2019 over 80% of our cotton originated from sustainable sources as well as nearly all of our polyester in apparel and our leather in footwear. Until 2025, 100% of our cotton, polyester, leather and down feathers as well as paper and cardboard should come from more sustainable sources.
FOREVER BETTER
By 2019, 98% of our leather originated from a tannery which was awarded a medal rating (gold, silver or bronze) by the leather working group. The Leather Working Group seek to improve the leather manufacturing industry by aligning environmental priorities, bringing visibility to best practices and providing guidelines for continual improvement.
PUMA partners with The Better Cotton Initiative/BCI to improve cotton farming globally. We are committed to sourcing 90% of our cotton as ‘more sustainable cotton’ by 2020 and 100% latest by 2025. This includes Better Cotton, organic cotton and recycled cotton. More than 2 million farmers across 21 countries are working hard to produce a growing supply of Better Cotton by minimizing the harmful impact of crop protection practices, using water efficiently, caring for the availability of water and the health of soil, conserving natural habitats and preserving the quality of fiber. Better Cotton is not physically traceable to end products. However, BCI Farmers benefit from the demand for Better Cotton in equivalent volumes to those we ‘source’.
bluesign®
How relevant is it to check finished products? Do these tests indicate if problematic substances were used in an early stage of the process or if certain processes and production facilities are environmentally inefficient? The answer was PUMA’s decision to have 90% of the polyester used in our products certified by either bluesign® or Oeko-Tex by 2020. The bluesign® system eliminates harmful substances right from the beginning of the manufacturing process by considering production processes as a whole. To prevent unsustainable substances from entering the production cycle at all and to be eliminated, bluesign® sets and controls standards for an environmentally friendly and safe production.
PUMA uses STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® certified materials at scale to ensure highest standards on chemicals management and product safety.
As part of our 10FOR25 targets, PUMA has committed to scaling up the usage of recycled polyester to 75% by 2025.
Recycled polyester helps to avoid waste and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Using recycled polyester at scale is our first step towards a more circular business model.
To become a sustainable company, PUMA aims to have 90% of its packaging made of paper certified by Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and / or recycled paper and cardboard by 2020. FSC sets standards for a responsibly managed forest – environmentally and socially. FSC forest management certification confirms a forest is being managed in a way that preserves the natural ecosystem and benefits the lives of local people and workers, all while ensuring it sustains economically viability.
Always aiming higher, we added a new global volume target for Responsible Down Standard-certified down feathers in 2018. By 2020, PUMA aims to have 90% of their prodcuts using down feathers made with RDS-certified down.
The RDS ensures that the down in a product does not come from birds that have been live-plucked or force-fed and that their welfare has been protected during their whole lifetime. By inspecting each part of the supply chain, from farms and collectors to slaughterhouses, down processors, sewing factories and distribution centers on an annual basis, independent certification bodies make sure that the birds were reared according to RDS standards.