Bergans of Norway has launched Expedition 2020, a multi-faceted approach to expand the company’s environmental and social responsibility. The program’s name is inspired by the company’s heritage of supporting polar exploration and achieving the “unachievable,” says Bergans.
Through Expedition 2020 Bergans has increased its requirements for using environmentally friendly materials and chemicals, and additionally asked its production partners to become more environmentally correct. Bergans’ target for completion is the year 2020.
“At Bergans we are passionate about providing people with great outdoor experiences. It goes without saying, that we do whatever we can to ensure that future generations can enjoy nature to the same extent as we do today,” said Bergans Sustainability Manager Felix Ockborn. “For several years, we have focused on the environment and our social responsibility. Expedition 2020 raises the bar even more.”
The new environmental program provides Bergans with a clearer strategy and several measurable goals to help fulfill Expedition 2020’s motto of “What we love, we will protect.”
In early 2015, the company held several internal meetings with staff members from its product development, supplier relations, distribution and logistics departments to evaluate the company’s current efforts and determine which processes and requirements were environmentally sustainable, which weren’t, and what could be done to improve them. Every aspect from resource management in the head office in Hokksund, Norway to working conditions and animal welfare in the production chain was evaluated. From those meetings, major, minor and secondary goals were identified and set.
Ockborn explains, “Bergans’ priority is clean and ethically sound production. A milestone in 2016 is that all down products will be manufactured in accordance with the Textile Exchange’s Responsible Down Standard (RDS). This means that a third party will verify that down production, from the farm to Bergans end products, adhere to specific ethical standards.”
Two of the new program’s primary goals are for 75 percent of all products to be bluesign® approved and for 70 percent of products to be made from more sustainable raw materials. Other goals of Expedition 2020 are that all packaging material will be from sustainable sources, that less than 2 percent of all shipments will be via airfreight, that there will be annual sustainability training for all Bergans staff, that Bergans will provide verified climate reports for all its operations, and that all its buildings will use renewable energy.
Ockborn concedes that the goals of Expedition 2020 are ambitious. “Yes, this will be a tough one, but a sustainable future requires substantial effort and rethinking now. At Bergans, we have never been afraid to embark on tough expeditions. By being innovative, adaptive and focused, we will reach these goals.”
More information can be found at bergans.com/2020.
