Apparel manufacturer Quickfeat International announced that its factory, the DongGuan Jiangnan Clothing Company Ltd. in China, has received formal recognition from the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) for completing the Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM) and the Higg Facility Social Labor Module (Higg FSLM).
Launched in 2012 by the SAC – a nonprofit organization founded by a group of leading apparel companies, the United States government Environmental Protection Agency, and other nonprofit entities – the Higg Index is an apparel, footwear and textile industry self-assessment standard for assessing environmental and social sustainability throughout the supply chain. The index drives behavior for improvement, helping organizations standardize how they measure performance across the supply chain at the brand, product and facility levels.
In Quickfeat’s case, the Higg Index included modules to measure the social and environmental performance of its facility, the DongGuan Jiangnan Clothing Company Ltd. The Higg FEM is a tool that informs manufacturers about the environmental performance of their facility, so they can make improvements that reduce negative impacts. The Higg FSLM is a tool promoting safe and fair labor conditions for supply chain workers. Quickfeat’s factory successfully completed both the Higg Index Higg FEM and Higg FSLM modules.
“The Sustainable Apparel Coalition is the apparel, footwear and textile industry’s leading alliance for sustainable production. Our global members work together to develop the Higg Index, a suite of self-assessment tools that measure sustainability performance across the value chain,” said Jason Kibbey, CEO, Sustainable Apparel Coalition. “The Higg Index empowers organizations like Quickfeat to make meaningful improvements, including reducing inefficiencies and protecting the well-being of factory workers, local communities and the environment. To reach a critical mass and achieve systemic change, we hope to have 20,000 facilities and 400 brands registered on our new Higg Index platform by the end of 2018.”
“Unfortunately, all the elements that bring apparel from concept to completion have an impact on our environment. Should we continue without making improvements to the process the health of the environment and our workers will continue to decline,” said Glenn Willard, Managing Partner, Quickfeat International. “As someone who cares deeply about the future of our planet, it was important for Quickfeat to work with the SAC to make sustainable improvements to our facilities. We join other facilities with the same intent to improve our environmental and social impact on a global scale.”
