W. L. Gore & Associates has published its 2020 Responsibility Update for the Fabrics Division that offers details on how it plans to use its newly introduced sustainability framework with “sound science, transparency, and cooperation in providing innovative solutions to both its customers and the industry,” said the company.

The update also includes an interview with leaders of the Consumer-Oriented Fabrics (COF) and Technical Oriented Fabrics (TOF) businesses who share how they will implement the new framework and use it to strengthen sustainability in Gore’s Fabrics Division.

Examples of initiatives and collaborations that the Division feels are important include: 

  • Setting new carbon-reduction goals to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and contributing to the global effort toward mitigating climate change;
  • Achieving goals set three years ago to have 85 percent of consumer garment laminates approved by bluesign and 100 percent of consumer garment laminates certified under OEKO-TEX Standard 100;
  • The culmination of a three-year effort to triple the number of Gore-Tex laminates (to more than 150) that uses textiles with recycled content and solution dyed-yarns;
  • Sharing environmental footprint data of the Gore-Tex consumer garment laminates through the Higg Materials Sustainability Index (MSI) to help customers make informed decisions;
  • Use of the Higg Facility Tools implemented to increase transparency in environmental and social impacts at Gore Fabrics manufacturing sites;
  • The signing of the Manifesto of the international initiative “S.O.S. SOIL – Save Organics in Soil” by the Solid Waste Treatment Team of the TOF business, to encourage climate-proof soil management practices; and
  • Updating progress towards elimination of PFCs of Environmental Concern (PFCEC) from Gore Fabrics Division consumer products.

Ross MacLaine, Sustainability Leader, Gore’s Fabrics Division, stated: “I am pleased to see that in 2020, despite all of the challenges, we kept making substantial progress in many areas of our sustainability journey. I am particularly proud of our carbon goals and our new sustainability framework. And I promise that we will continue to work hard on all the commitments we made within our evolved sustainability strategy; protecting people and planet while prolonging product life and the well-being of users.”

For more on the report, go here.