Coze Aarhus A/S (in the following referred to as Coze) has always prioritized the environmental impact of garment production, and our commitment continues to grow as we learn more. As a brand, we acknowledge our responsibility for the environmental impact of the production of our products. Our mission is to make garments that will enjoy a prolonged lifecycle in our customers’ wardrobes through high quality, excellent fit and timeless design.
Since 2015, we have submitted an annual Communication on Progress (COP) report to the UN Global Compact. We update our OECD risk analysis annually to help us identify potential blind spots, and since 2014, we have worked with 3-year ESG-strategies, with the environment as an integrated part.
We proactively follow current and emerging legislation for continuous improvement and progress, and we remain deeply committed to minimising our environmental impact.
Climate
“Climate” is the area most challenging to measure, as climate is influenced by all other dimensions within this policy, and every environmental interaction has impact on the climate.
We have established KPI’s for CO2 emissions, based on energy, water and chemical consumption within scope 1 and scope 2. It is a challenge to get data from scope 3 – in a quality we can rely on. However, we experience that our producers are slowly getting better at collecting and providing us with data, though we acknowledge we are still in the early stages of this process.
We report on our KPI’s in our annual environmental data report.
Our products travel short distances – by truck within Europe.
For company travel, we aim for train/bus, whenever possible.
Our overall KPI in the making of collections is that 70% of the pieces must be relevant in a consumer’s wardrobe across three similar seasons, both design and quality wise. We hope this will reduce customers’ urge to overconsume and buy unnecessary new products.
We have developed a plan for having out-phased our collection samples by 2030 in the way it is today, as this significantly reduces the making and waste of sampling fabric, dye/print processes and transportation of samples.
Biodiversity
We are committed to using only organic cotton to avoid the use of pesticides and fertilizers – and FSC-/PEFC-certified viscose/TencelTM to prevent deforestation. We annually measure our percentage of organic cotton and FSC-/PEFC- certified viscose in production.
Water
“Water is life” and a limited resource we must protect. We are committed to using water-conserving washing methods such as eFlow, which significantly reduce water consumption in our production.
We annually ask significant fabric suppliers (dye houses/printers) about their production methods and how they manage wastewater.
We closely monitor technological developments and always aim for dye and wash methods with the lowest environmental impact.
We guide our customers in how to wash and care for their garments, to reduce the number of washes and maintain the garment with the lowest environmental impact possible.
Land
We are committed to using raw materials with low environmental impact, preferably natural materials. Since 2022, all cotton used has been organic, and all viscose and lyocell have been sourced from Lenzing, certified by FSC/PEFC. This approach enables us to avoid the intense use of pesticides and fertilizers and to prevent deforestation of ancient forests, and at the same time save water and chemicals in the process of turning cellulose into yarns.
Chemicals
Our products must be safe for both customers and the environment, and we go beyond legal compliance through our Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certification. We became certified for all our products in 2016 and remain committed to maintaining the certification.
The Oeko-Tex Standard 100 criteria are reviewed annually against SVHC and EU legislation, which ensures the restrictions live up to REACH legislation.
In our denim production, we use laser technology to make design effects, thereby reducing the environmental impact of chemicals and to improve the working conditions.
Waste
We are dedicated to make “garments that will be loved and used – and not become waste”.
We achieve this by using high-quality materials, ensuring great fit and design, and guiding consumers to take care of and repair their garments.
We have established a written commitment to maintain a maximum customer complaint rate of 1% of our customer base. No matter how well we take care of our favourite garments, most will eventually become worn out, damaged or destroyed. Still, our goal is to maximise the longevity of our garments and prevent them from going through the waste hierarchy.
During the production-phase, fabric cutting (scrap fabric) is collected by the local municipality. Second-grade goods are sold locally as such.
Surplus fabric from production must be utilized, taking full responsibility for the fabric we have booked.
At our headquarters, (where our warehouse is also located), we ensure that textiles do not go to waste; all second grade garments are donated to charity organizations we partner with. Fabric cuts are supplied to local schools or kindergartens.
We are increasing our use of mono materials, while we wait for the technology for textile separation and reuse to be commercially available.
Amfori BSCI audits at production sites investigate both environmental and social aspects, when checking how producers manage and dispose of textile waste.
Materials
We strive to use environmentally friendly materials and have incorporated a materials strategy into our ESG approach since 2019.
We are committed to using organic cotton to avoid the intense use of pesticides and fertilizers – and FSC-/PEFC-certified viscose/TencelTM to avoid deforestation. We measure our percentage of organic cotton and FSC-/PEFC- certified viscose in production every year.
Whenever new environmentally friendly materials are commercially available, we seek to implement them in our collection.
Please see our Material Guide; Laurie (ipapercms.dk) to learn more about our materials and what we use or do not use and why.
Animal welfare
Down, feathers, fur and exotic skins are not relevant for the product range of COZE AARHUS and are therefore not used.
We do not use leather or materials derived from endangered species. All wool used is certified for animal welfare.
Please see our Animal Welfare policy; ANIMAL WELFARE POLICY – Coze Aarhus.