Alsico. Sustainability in every fibre
Respecting the limits of this planet, building on basic social rights
As a company, we want to contribute to an economy that respects the limits of the planet and guarantees basic social rights. We want to take on this responsibility by systematically incorporating environmental, social and economic considerations into our day-to-day management.
Looking forward to 2034
Alsico has set itself three major goals. These serve as a guide for all our sustainability actions and all stakeholder projects in which we participate.
Net zero
A decent standard of living for all our workers
An eco designed product with a maximum of recycled content
How will we get there
We engage in active impact management: we recognize the impact we have on people and the environment and we map that impact by conducting an annual due diligence. We set up targeted actions to improve them - which can be found in our action plan - and we report on them in our sustainability report. We do all this within the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Sustainability Is a Doing Word
The building blocks of our sustainable production? We design and produce our clothing in our own production units in Tunisia, Morocco, Laos and Madagascar. We naturally screen these production units internally, but also have them checked by external parties. All our clothing is designed according to the ecodesign principle: our starting point is the wearer's needs. Repairability is built in through smart confection. And we use Oekotex-100 certified fabrics, which contain no harmful chemicals.
Thanks to these building blocks - and the data they provide - we are able to take concrete actions to reduce risks. We accept all the clothing we produced back for recycling into insulation or furniture, we localize production with a view to reducing road transport, we have switched to recycled and FSC-labelled packaging and we are moving into a CO2-neutral building by the end of 2021. You too can make an important contribution to a number of these CO2-reducing actions, such as by your choice of textile materials . See 'Help us complete the circle'.’
To measure is to know
Every year, we measure the carbon footprint of the entire production chain. We compensate the emissions caused by production and transport through a tree planting programme in Madagascar. This is an insetting programme recognised by the Kyoto Protocol, where we plant trees that act as effective carbon sinks. The indigenous species will help to restore ecosystems that have been severely affected by erosion. Planting is done with the help of local people, who get yield trees such as coffee, cocoa or lychee to engage in a more sustainable type of agriculture.
The remaining emissions - from the purchase of raw materials - can be offset by the customers themselves. Each tree that we plant stores 100 kg of CO2 during its lifetime. The ratio for the compensation we offer is 1 tree for 7 pieces of clothing.
The Alsico Sustainability Report
Here you can find our latest sustainability report, prepared according to the rules of the GRI. The complete GRI-report is availbable for consultation on request.
UN Global Compact Communication on Progress 2020
Sinds 2018 is Alsico lid van de UN Global Compact, wereldwijd het grootste initiatief rond maatschappelijk verantwoord ondernemen. Het lidmaatschap houdt in dat bedrijven acties formuleren in het kader van de 17 Sustainable Development Goals. En dat ze daarover ook jaarlijks rapporteren. Dit gebeurt via een zogenaamde 'Communcation on Progress', die u hier kunt inkijken.
Help us complete the circle
Our customers have joined us in striving for a sustainable world.
Low Impact Design & Fabrics
Clothing repair service
Recycling into insulation or furniture