52% of viscose supply now 'green shirt': Canopy ranking

02 Nov '20

3 min read

Pic: Canopy Planet

Fifty two per cent of the global viscose supply is deemed ‘green shirts’ in the 2020 Hot Button Report and Ranking by environmental group Canopy. A producer audited and assessed as being at low risk, or which has taken substantive action to eliminate known risk of sourcing rayon and viscose from ancient and endangered forests gets the ‘green shirts’ rating.

The report shows over half of the global viscose supply has attained that milestone and more than 90 per cent of the entire viscose supply chain now has a publicly available CanopyStyle policy in place.

While eliminating ancient and endangered forests from the man-made cellulosic fibre (MMCF) supply chain is a crucial first step, it is actually the minimum bar of brands and producers’ CanopyStyle commitments, according to a press release form the Canada-based organisation.

Canopy’s partners have also committed to investigating, trying and scaling up game-changing next-generation solutions, which include using recycled, post-consumer textiles, agricultural residues and microbial cellulose to make the pulp that forms the basis of MMCF fabrics like rayon and viscose.

A third and vital component of the CanopyStyle vision is translation of supply chain shifts into lasting conservation in critical forests around the globe. This year’s Hot Button documents exciting progress by many producers in all three of these key performance areas.

“It’s incredible to see how quickly the majority of viscose production has moved, and now we need the rest of the industry to keep pace,” said Nicole Rycroft, Canopy’s executive director.

“In addition to many of the leaders reducing risk, we’re buoyed by the substantive advancements of Next Generation Solutions, as well as conservation gains in key landscapes. This year’s Hot Button Ranking is good news for all sustainability conscious brands, as well as for the world’s forests and climate,” she said.

This announcement comes at a pivotal time as a majority of the 320 brands in the CanopyStyle initiative, worth $578 billion in revenue, are implementing their commitments to only source from producers ranked with green shirts. This includes companies as diverse as Inditex, Stella McCartney, Amazon, H&M, Levi’s, Target, Marks and Spencer and Gap Inc.

Ten MMCF producers—Eastman, ENKA, Formosa, Jilin, Kelheim, Tangshan Sanyou, Xinxiang Chemical Fiber (Bailu) and Yibin Grace have earned green shirt designations, with Birla Cellulose and Lenzing obtaining the first-ever ranking of dark green shirts.

Ninety per cent of the global production capacity is committed to the CanopyStyle initiative through public sourcing policies.

Eleven producers have offered support to conservation solutions, including agreement to attend an event in January 2021 to support lasting solutions in the Great Bear Rainforest. Aditya Birla has invested in conservation planning in carbon-rich Boreal landscapes, agreeing to scenarios with Canopy that propose to conserve approximately 70 per cent of key ancient and endangered forests.

Four of the top five largest producers with deep supply chain integration have invested significantly in the advancement of next-generation solutions and are now selling viscose made from recycled textiles.

MMCF producers declared to be investing a combined sum of $233 million in next-generation research and development, and an intent to procure 274 000 tonnes of next-generation fibre solutions.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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