Working with Continental Clothing - Product carbon footprinting in

Case Study CTS056

Working with Continental Clothing

Product carbon footprinting in practice

The Carbon Trust

Continental Clothing was the ﬁrst business-to-business (B2B) company to

participate in the Carbon Trust’s product carbon footprinting and labelling

initiative. The project gave new insights about how carbon footprint assessment

and communication can uniquely beneﬁt B2B companies; how the analysis can

be done cost-effectively by a smaller business; and how a textile company can

reduce carbon emissions across its supply chain. It is also an early example of

a company rolling out the initial pilot to other product lines in their portfolio and

even to partners up and down the supply chain.

Working with Continental Clothing

Continental is differentiated by its direct distribution

model and fast bespoke service, combined with an

ethically-driven mission: “To inspire and implement

solutions to the environmental crisis”. It has four

sustainable apparel lines including its leading brand

EarthPositive

launched in 2007 as: “Apparel to combat

climate change”.

Continental’s supply chains vary by product line. Some

products are manufactured using a vertically-integrated

supply chain in which certiﬁed organic cotton farming,

spinning, dying and clothing production all take place in

wholly-owned sites; others are produced using a more

traditional, disaggregated supply chain.

The pilot project: motivation

Continental Clothing has a strong commitment to

sustainable production, and the ﬁght against climate

change is central to its strategy. It had already initiated

several measures to reduce carbon emissions as part

of this broader sustainability agenda. The purpose of

participating in the initial Carbon Trust pilot and using

the Carbon Reduction Label was to certify Continental’s

in-house assessments of product-level carbon emissions

and to provide customers with independent, credible

veriﬁcation to prove it.

The EarthPositive

line of shirts was a natural choice

for Continental’s product carbon footprinting pilot

since it already minimises environmental impact in all

production stages:

•

Organic farming – all shirts are 100% certiﬁed

organic cotton.

•

Natural irrigation – cotton farms in India are located

in areas where enough water occurs naturally through

the monsoon rains to supply 95% of water.

•

Renewable energy – production facility in India is

renewable power.

•

W a s t e :

– Cotton waste generated (the production of a T-shirt

requires ﬁve times its end weight in raw cotton)

is either returned to the ﬁeld as an organic fertiliser

or used for other textile and upholstery products

manufactured in the local area.

– Dyes are made in a controlled environment where

wastewater is thoroughly treated.

•

Packaging – all shirts are packaged using

biodegradable or 100% recycled materials.

•

Transport – Continental has a ‘no airfreight’ policy

– all goods are shipped by sea.

Given the considerable effort put in to make

EarthPositive

sustainable, Continental wanted to

assess the impact these measures have had on its

product carbon emissions.

Established in 1994, Continental Clothing is a B2B wholesaler of blank printable

t-shirts, polo shirts and sweatshirts for corporate, leisure and promotional wear,

with customers primarily in the music and advertising industries. Continental

Clothing employs 45 people and operates in the UK, US and Germany.

Company background

CONTINENTAL

The Carbon Trust

Product carbon footprint assessment

process

Continental succeeded in calculating its initial

product footprints in record time, at minimal cost,

demonstrating the opportunity SMEs have to execute

quickly. The company calculated the carbon footprint

of its black and white apparel, and then asked the

Carbon Trust to certify and provide the Label. The pilot

progressed rapidly, beginning in November and ﬁnishing

in December 2007. By January 2008, the company was

able to release a brochure showing the EarthPositive

clothing range that included the Carbon Trust Carbon

Reduction Label.

This tight deadline encouraged Continental to move

fast and think creatively about how to conduct the

footprint calculation. It hired a PhD graduate chemist

who travelled to India where the EarthPositive

shirts are

produced. Vertical integration and locally-sourced supply

also contributed to the speed of the pilot: Continental

owns its entire processing facility in the Tamil Nadu

region of India, and sources 100% organic cotton from

a single set of local producers.

This made the data collection process very quick.

A two-stage interview process – where the ﬁrst day

involved visiting a site and learning about the process

and activities, and the second day focused on data

collection – proved to be very effective. Armed with a

data collection template and the support of the company

to focus exclusively on carbon footprinting, the contractor

was able to collect the data and calculate the footprint in

only eight weeks and at a very low total cost.

Supply chain analysis

The carbon footprint calculation for EarthPositive

shirts reﬂects all stages of the shirt life cycle from

growing organic cotton through to the arrival of the

products in the UK. As speciﬁed in the PAS 2050

, B2B

companies like Continental Clothing can exclude the

distribution, retail, use and disposal phases of their

products’ life cycles since these phases can be hard

to predict as their products may be used by different

customers in very different ways.

The supply chain of the EarthPositive

garments is

illustrated in the Chart 1.

BSI Publicly Available Speciﬁcation (PAS) 2050 is based on the product carbon footprinting method originally developed by the Carbon Trust and trialled

with Walkers, Boots and innocent. The Carbon Trust later co-sponsored, along with the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra),

the development of PAS 2050 by BSI British Standards.

Chart 1 B2B process map: EarthPositive

shirt supply chain

Other Textile Products

Renewable electricity

Grid electricity

Diesel

Water

Bags &

boxes

Truck

Container ship

Harbour

(India)

Harbour

(UK)

Warehouse

(UK)

Truck

Waste

water

treatment

Seeds

and

leaves

Truck

Spinning

Manufacturing Plant, India

Knitting Dyeing

Cutting

and sewing

Organic

cotton

farming

Chemicals

Ginning

Working with Continental Clothing

The breakdown of emissions for a Men’s white T-shirt

(large size) is summarised in Chart 2.

The main sources of carbon emissions were farming

and spinning. Emissions from raw materials, waste and

manufacturing were lower than expected, reﬂecting the

fact that Continental had already introduced good carbon

management practices and received electricity from

renewable sources.

Communicating the results: experience

using the Carbon Reduction Label

Continental’s original pilot resulted in Carbon Trust

Carbon Reduction Labels for seven products (see

Chart 3 for an example). These Labels are displayed in

B2B sales materials, including the website, catalogues

and at tradeshows. The Carbon Reduction Label is also

used in advertising, to support the catalogue release

and in further communications to generate interest.

Continental believes the Carbon Reduction Label has

provided the credibility it needed from an independent

organisation like the Carbon Trust to ensure its

customers believe its climate-related marketing is

accurate and trustworthy. As a B2B company, having

the Carbon Reduction Label also gives Continental

a competitive advantage by providing business

customers certiﬁed data up to the point of delivery,

thereby making it signiﬁcantly easier for customers

to footprint and label garments for end consumers.

Achievements

When calculating the carbon footprint of the

EarthPositive

product range, Continental and the

Carbon Trust also analysed what the carbon emissions

would have been if standard Indian grid electricity

had been used. They calculated that using renewable

energy reduced the carbon footprint by nearly ~90%

from 6.5kg to 0.65kg for a Men’s large white T-shirt

(see Chart 4).

PAS 2050 requires that renewable energy be both additional and unique to ensure against double-counting. Because Continental’s wind farm met these

criteria, it was allowed to claim the carbon beneﬁt.

Chart 2 Continental T-shirt carbon footprint

Men’s white T-shirt – large

0.65

0.7

0.8

0.6

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.5

kg CO

e/product

0.4

packaging

transport of final product

chemicals

manufacturing

transport RM

farming

Source: Continental Clothing Company

Chart 4 Continental’s use of on-site renewable electricity

enables ~90% lower carbon products

Traditional grid Renewables

6.5

0.65

emissions per product unit

7.0

6.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

5.0

kg CO

/product

4.0

90%

Source: Continental Clothing Company

Chart 3 Carbon Trust Carbon Reduction Label used by

Continental Clothing

The Carbon Trust

Using renewable energy also reduces the company’s

exposure to oil price rises. Continental can therefore

offer price stability to customers during a time when

competitors have had to increase their prices. The ‘no

airfreight’ policy, in addition to its considerable carbon

beneﬁt, offers a substantial cost beneﬁt as well.

Although the EarthPositive

range was already

relatively low carbon, Continental identiﬁed further

opportunities to reduce their products’ carbon

emissions and create new business opportunities

as well:

•

Increase energy efﬁciency of machines – old

machines can be three times more energy intensive

than newer ones.

•

Change suppliers to ensure lower-carbon inputs –

e.g. suppliers are introducing alternative energy and

recycling to their UK warehouses.

•

Understand low carbon alternatives in manufacturing

sub-processes:

– Spinning – potential to reduce energy use by a

further 10%.

– Water treatment – building larger vessels to

increase efﬁciency; ~20% emissions reduction for

this process step expected at completion.

– Dyeing – reviewing alternatives, including new

technologies with lower energy consumption and

new generation of organic dyestuffs, which could

reduce emissions of this stage by ~20%.

– Finishing – potential to eliminate the use of diesel

generators and replace old machinery for a possible

15% reduction of this step’s carbon footprint.

Although many of these changes require capital

investment, Continental feels these costs are offset

by improvements in brand value. Continental believes:

“Superﬁcial sustainability investments will quickly

become transparent; to protect brand value and

reputation over the long term, only genuine measures

taken – as the technology become available – will ensure

the brand’s credibility. These do require investment in

research, time and money

”.

Continental is currently expanding the footprinting

model to include decorative options (e.g. screen-printing,

embroidery, heat transfers) and more complex fabrics

(e.g. blends, technical washes, distressing process),

which will likely uncover additional opportunities to

reduce carbon emissions.

Continental is also working with customers and the

Carbon Trust to estimate the carbon emissions further

down the life cycle chain. Realising that the bulk of

carbon emissions from a T-shirt’s life cycle actually

comes from the use phase – through washing machine

use – it is helping to educate consumers by sharing this

information with tips to reduce emissions on its website

and the labels themselves: “We label our garments

SAVE THE CLIMATE – WASH COOL – LINE DRY in

addition to standard wash care instructions”.

As a pioneer in carbon labelling, Continental is vocal

about its work on carbon footprint measurement and

reductions, as well as other areas of sustainability.

Continental has actively communicated its EarthPositive

case study to others in the industry and is proactive

about raising awareness of climate change among its

peers. It seeks to demonstrate that a business model

based on sustainability can be proﬁtable and offer a

competitive advantage.

International

Continental is leading the way in introducing the

Carbon Reduction Label to countries outside the UK.

It is using the Carbon Reduction Label online and in

its sales catalogue as part of its market entry strategy

in countries including France, Italy, Germany, Holland,

Finland, Sweden, Iceland and Japan. There is signiﬁcant

interest from customers in other countries, and the

Label may soon be introduced in Australia.

One of the key drivers for using the Label internationally

is that Continental sees its market evolving to increasingly

value lower-carbon products. Continental’s Director,

Phillip Gamett explains that: “Climate change – and thus

carbon reduction – is a global problem, and it is irrelevant

whether markets are ready for the Carbon Reduction

Label: the sooner we introduce it, the sooner it will

become of value”.

Continental acknowledges that there are different levels

of understanding of the carbon issue across different

markets. While this means in some markets they have

to educate their buyers, it also gives them a clear ﬁrst

mover advantage which they are looking to capitalise

upon by furthering the carbon label concept from the

wholesale buyers through to the end consumers.

Source: quote from Philip Gamett, Continental Clothing Director, 15/08/2008.

Working with Continental Clothing

The way forward

Continental is building on its experience with the

Carbon Reduction Label pilot in several ways:

•

New supply chains:

– Continental recognised that the footprinting

analysis offers a systematic approach to identifying

carbon reduction opportunities.

– They are now extending it to other supply chains,

such as those in Turkey, and plan to roll it out to the

rest of their portfolio.

•

Certiﬁed model:

– Building on the initial footprint analysis, Continental

has developed an easy-to-use model that allows

it to understand the carbon impact of different

product conﬁgurations, i.e. different combinations

of raw materials, colours and sizes.

– It is currently working with the Carbon Trust to

certify the entire model, making future product

footprinting and labelling even faster and cheaper.

•

Better management and sales practices:

– Continental is using the insights gained from its

carbon footprint model to inform decisions about

new product development, i.e. future T-shirt

conﬁgurations, with the goal of continuous

improvement and carbon reductions over time.

•

Customer engagement:

– Continental sees the Carbon Reduction Label as a

key differentiator not only for themselves, but also

for their customers.

– It plans to use the certiﬁed model as a sales tool

to help its customers understand the carbon

implications of their purchase decisions.

•

Carbon footprinting ‘industry’ evolution – Continental

sees a future revolution in carbon labelling and is

determined to play a leading role in:

– Developing ‘component’ labelling of products

(where B2B organisations pass the certiﬁed carbon

footprint of their products to the next stage in the

supply chain) to make life cycle footprinting easier

and more cost-effective, as well as contributing to

better supply chain coordination.

– Promoting these pre-footprinted component

products as a source of competitive advantage for

B2B companies.

– Driving forward the vision to establish a global supply

network of footprinted raw materials, components

and end products that will ultimately facilitate

emissions reductions across the entire chain.

Key lessons

The Continental pilot offers practical lessons to

companies wanting to footprint and label:

•

The ﬁrst B2B pilot, thereby offering the chance to

test PAS 2050 on a B2B supply chain and proving the

viability of the Carbon Reduction Label as a marketing

tool to business customers.

•

The ﬁrst SME pilot, Continental demonstrates the

applicability of PAS 2050 for smaller companies,

and offers lessons for how small companies can take

advantage of their size and focus to achieve results

quickly and cheaply.

•

First pilot partner to calculate product footprints

independently, only involving the Carbon Trust at the

end for independent veriﬁcation of the results and for

labelling. This showed that product carbon footprinting

to the standard required by the PAS 2050 can be

internalised, thereby signiﬁcantly driving down costs.

•

The ﬁrst textile/clothing pilot company, providing

insights on carbon reduction opportunities in this

sector, such as the impact of renewable power on

otherwise carbon-intensive activities.

The Carbon Trust is funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra),

the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, the Scottish Government, the Welsh

Assembly Government and Invest Northern Ireland.

Whilst reasonable steps have been taken to ensure that the information contained within this publication

is correct, the authors, the Carbon Trust, its agents, contractors and sub-contractors give no warranty

and make no representation as to its accuracy and accept no liability for any errors or omissions.

Any trademarks, service marks or logos used in this publication, and copyright in it, are the property

of the Carbon Trust. Nothing in this publication shall be construed as granting any licence or right to use

or reproduce any of the trademarks, service marks, logos, copyright or any proprietary information in

any way without the Carbon Trust’s prior written permission. The Carbon Trust enforces infringements

of its intellectual property rights to the full extent permitted by law.

The Carbon Trust is a company limited by guarantee and registered in England and Wales under

Company number 4190230 with its Registered Ofﬁce at: 8th Floor, 3 Clement’s Inn, London WC2A 2AZ.

Printed on 80% recycled paper containing a minimum of 60% de-inked waste ﬁbre.

Published in the UK: October 2008.

The Carbon Trust was set up by Government in 2001 as a

private company.

Our mission is to accelerate the move to a low carbon economy

by working with organisations to reduce carbon emissions and

develop commercial low carbon technologies.

We do this through ﬁve complementary business areas:

Insights – explains the opportunities surrounding climate change

Solutions – delivers carbon reduction solutions

Innovations – develops low carbon technologies

Enterprises – creates low carbon businesses

Investments – ﬁnances clean energy businesses.

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