Analysis of Environmental Criteria in Sustainability Reports of Companies in the Textile and Apparel Sector

The textile industry is often criticized for its enormous negative impact on the environment and non-human working conditions, especially in third-world countries. One of the goals of sustainability measures is the transparency of communications regarding environmental impacts and the policy measur...

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Main Authors: Špela Kumer, Gregor Radonjič
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani) 2021-11-01
Series:Tekstilec
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.uni-lj.si/tekstilec/article/view/12019
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author Špela Kumer
Gregor Radonjič
author_facet Špela Kumer
Gregor Radonjič
author_sort Špela Kumer
collection DOAJ
description The textile industry is often criticized for its enormous negative impact on the environment and non-human working conditions, especially in third-world countries. One of the goals of sustainability measures is the transparency of communications regarding environmental impacts and the policy measures of companies. So-called sustainability reports have become one of the most popular ways to communicate with stakeholders regarding the sustainability efforts of companies. In this paper, we analysed the content of the sustainability reports of textile industry and apparel companies with an emphasis on environmental criteria. We focused on the number of environmental criteria and analysed the measures taken in a given period. The results revealed that, in all cases, more detailed information regarding the carbon and water footprint were reported every year. In general, companies reported the most about measures taken in the production and raw material extraction phases, and the least about the consumption stage. However, mostly positive information about environmental aspects were included in the analysed sustainability reports. Failures regarding sustainable development programmes were rarely mentioned.
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spelling doaj.art-13fed3013b7043b3bc81f654815d9d472024-07-10T09:03:19ZengUniversity of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)Tekstilec0351-33862350-36962021-11-0164310.14502/Tekstilec2021.64.206-22018406Analysis of Environmental Criteria in Sustainability Reports of Companies in the Textile and Apparel SectorŠpela Kumer0Gregor Radonjič1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2621-5045Univerza v Mariboru, Ekonomsko-poslovna fakulteta, Katedra za tehnologijo in podjetniško varstvo okolja, Razlagova 14, 2000 Maribor, SlovenijaUniverza v Mariboru, Ekonomsko-poslovna fakulteta, Katedra za tehnologijo in podjetniško varstvo okolja, Razlagova 14, 2000 Maribor, Slovenija The textile industry is often criticized for its enormous negative impact on the environment and non-human working conditions, especially in third-world countries. One of the goals of sustainability measures is the transparency of communications regarding environmental impacts and the policy measures of companies. So-called sustainability reports have become one of the most popular ways to communicate with stakeholders regarding the sustainability efforts of companies. In this paper, we analysed the content of the sustainability reports of textile industry and apparel companies with an emphasis on environmental criteria. We focused on the number of environmental criteria and analysed the measures taken in a given period. The results revealed that, in all cases, more detailed information regarding the carbon and water footprint were reported every year. In general, companies reported the most about measures taken in the production and raw material extraction phases, and the least about the consumption stage. However, mostly positive information about environmental aspects were included in the analysed sustainability reports. Failures regarding sustainable development programmes were rarely mentioned. https://journals.uni-lj.si/tekstilec/article/view/12019textile sectorapparel industrysustainability reportsenvironmental criteriacarbon footprint
spellingShingle Špela Kumer
Gregor Radonjič
Analysis of Environmental Criteria in Sustainability Reports of Companies in the Textile and Apparel Sector
Tekstilec
textile sector
apparel industry
sustainability reports
environmental criteria
carbon footprint
title Analysis of Environmental Criteria in Sustainability Reports of Companies in the Textile and Apparel Sector
title_full Analysis of Environmental Criteria in Sustainability Reports of Companies in the Textile and Apparel Sector
title_fullStr Analysis of Environmental Criteria in Sustainability Reports of Companies in the Textile and Apparel Sector
title_full_unstemmed Analysis of Environmental Criteria in Sustainability Reports of Companies in the Textile and Apparel Sector
title_short Analysis of Environmental Criteria in Sustainability Reports of Companies in the Textile and Apparel Sector
title_sort analysis of environmental criteria in sustainability reports of companies in the textile and apparel sector
topic textile sector
apparel industry
sustainability reports
environmental criteria
carbon footprint
url https://journals.uni-lj.si/tekstilec/article/view/12019
work_keys_str_mv AT spelakumer analysisofenvironmentalcriteriainsustainabilityreportsofcompaniesinthetextileandapparelsector
AT gregorradonjic analysisofenvironmentalcriteriainsustainabilityreportsofcompaniesinthetextileandapparelsector