Annual Report 2009 - Ecco

66
The environment and working environment in ECCO’s factories
ECCO shoes are designed and manufactured
to last a long time. This is an obvious
environmental benefit as durable, high-quality
products reduce the environmental impact in
the lifecycle aspect of the product.
The manufacturer of ECCO’s shoes uses
a long list of resources, including leather,
textiles, chemicals and other raw materials,
as well as water and energy. Shoe factories
affect the environment, for example, by
consuming energy and through the waste
products which they generate. For tanneries,
the environmental impact also includes the
waste water which is produced.
Both the consumption of energy and the use
of raw materials are closely supervised, so
that in all ECCO’s factories there is as little
waste as possible. This includes the use of
modern technologies, production equipment
and manufacturing processes.
ECCO’s tanneries have a purification plant
so that the waste water is cleaned, and
does not merely fulfil the local effluent
requirements, but also complies with
Scandinavian standards. At the same time
ECCO is constantly working to optimise
the use of various resources from an
environmental point of view.
Restriction of chemical substances
All industrial production is dependent on
chemicals. ECCO focuses on optimising production
technologies aimed at developing new
and more environmentally friendly processes.
The tanning process – making final
leather from raw hides – uses a variety of
ECCO’s Code of Conduct & Environmental Statement 2009 / The environment and working environment in ECCO’s factories
chemicals in order to achieve the right
structure and appearance as well as
durability of the leather. Similarly, within the
shoe manufacturing processes, chemicals
are used, e.g. light, comfortable PU-soles are
made from chemicals which are injected into
a mould to produce the final sole.
ECCO makes an effort to minimise the
content of chemical substances in ECCO
products. Requirements are based on relevant
legislation in the markets where ECCO
products are sold, as well as on common
industry codes and practices.