The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) – the leading association for the apparel, footwear, and textile industry – has released the 2018 Higg Facility Modules on Higg.org. The Higg Facility Modules are part of the Higg Index, a suite of sustainability assessment tools to address value chain inefficiencies, resolve damaging practices, and achieve the environmental and social transparency consumers are demanding.
Factories can use the updated Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM) and the Higg Facility Social and Labor Module (Higg FSLM), which is accessible online for the first time, to evaluate value chain sustainability performance. "We streamlined the functionality of Higg.org to offer Higg Index customers improved navigation as they complete the Higg Facility Modules," says SAC CEO Jason Kibbey. "They can now share information more easily with supply chain partners. We hope this will encourage more of the industry to complete Higg assessments and support value chain transparency."
The Higg FEM assessment can measure a factory’s environmental management systems, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, emissions to air, waste management, and chemical use and management. The new web-based Higg FSLM introduces the industry's first standardised self-assessment for measuring a factory’s social and labour performance.
Informed by the Social and Labor Convergence Project, the SAC developed the Higg FSLM to evaluate recruitment and hiring practices, working hours, wages and benefits, employee health and safety, and community engagement, among other areas. The SAC is working towards accreditation as a host of the converged assessment and will release a scored version of Higg FSLM at the end of 2019.
Upcoming features of Higg.org include improved analytics and benchmarking of sustainability data. Factories can review scores within the platform and compare their own results to those of industry peers. Higg Index customers can also use the data from the assessments to identify near and long-term performance improvement opportunities. In early 2019, the platform will support Higg Index verification, which is helpful for facilities wanting to share verified scores with business partners. The verification functionality enables factories, brands and retailers to better communicate and collaborate to identify actionable improvement opportunities and develop performance improvement plans.
Historical data indicates that factories using the Higg Index annually improve sustainability performance. The self-assessments empower manufacturers to advance the industry from one of compliance-based audits to one of self-reliant sustainability management, which alleviates the top-down tensions of traditional industry audits, says the SAC.
"The Higg Index is a holistic tool that helps in goal-setting and measurement. Higg FEM helped us in eliminating the Sustainable Chemicals Management audit for chemical management. It imparts transparency to the value chain," says Sameer Bhand – vice president of sales, strategy and sustainability – from SAC manufacturer member Pratibha Syntex.
"When brands replace their bespoke audits by the Higg Facility Modules, factories no longer have to entertain 10 or more mostly redundant audits a year," adds Bernhard Kiehl, brand sustainability leader from SAC manufacturer member GORE-TEX. "This encourages facilities to take full ownership of their social and environmental performance and to drive year-over-year improvements of their Higg rating."
The Higg Index encourages a transparent value chain with improved communication among business partners. Brands also recognise benefits linked to equal partnership, which the self-assessments promote.
"Speaking the same language has changed the way we work with our partners," says Abel Navarrete, VP corporate responsibility, from SAC brand member Columbia Sportswear Company. "We have seen an increase in dialogue, both with our manufacturing partners as well as with brand and retailer partners, since large-scale adoption of the Higg Facility Tools that has led to more impactful performance improvement and investments."
SAC retailer member Asos finds the Higg Index beneficial to its sustainability efforts. The e-tailer says that the “the Higg Index has formed a cornerstone of the Asos sustainability strategy by providing an efficient way to share environmental data within all levels of the supply chain. Reporting fatigue is reduced, making it easier than ever to achieve vital transparency, while the standardised reporting format gives all stakeholders the freedom to implement the learnings as they wish."
The SAC also aims to support the growing consumer interest in socially and environmentally conscientious brands. "Consumers are asking more questions about how their clothes are made. The Higg Index can provide them valuable insight," says Kibbey. "We are working with members to develop communications for external stakeholders." Currently, the Coalition is testing Higg Index performance communications and it will introduce consumer-facing Higg Index information in 2020.
Factories can register to use the Higg Facility Modules at Higg.org. The website is currently available in English and, from early 2019, will also be available in Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish, and Vietnamese.
Textiles are global and the industry has consistently remained one of the most environmentally damaging. But now, following warnings that global warming could become irreversible, the consumers’ increasing environmental awareness is beginning to leave its mark on famous global retailers, designers and textile manufacturers. Every industry is called upon to become greener and it’s pivotal for the future of a textile manufacturer that they too take steps to become more sustainable.
To date, the digitalisation of the textile supply chain has been relatively unsuccessful in making the textile industry more sustainable. Furthermore, the growth of the man-made fibres industry is witnessing a vast number of garments going to landfill – of which many can take centuries to decompose. These are just two of many areas in which the textile industry can become greener courtesy of solutions found at Higg.org.
Visit https://apparelcoalition.org/higg-facility-tools/ to learn more about the Higg Facility Tools.
