Puma said in a statement that it recognizes the urgent need
for reducing and eliminating industrial releases of all hazardous chemicals and
is committed to “eliminate the discharges of all hazardous chemicals from the
whole lifecycle and all production procedures that are associated with the
making and using of Puma products by 2020.”

Puma's announcement came less than two weeks after
Greenpeace released its “Dirty Laundry,” report, which points to
links between major apparel  brands –
including Nike, Adidas and Puma – and suppliers responsible for releasing
hazardous and hormone-disrupting chemicals into Chinese rivers.

In its statement, Puma said that in line with its long-term
sustainability program, Puma recognizes the urgent
need for reducing and eliminating industrial releases of all hazardous
chemicals. According to its approach based on prevention and precautionary
principles, Puma said it “is committed to eliminate the discharges of all hazardous
chemicals from the whole lifecycle and all production procedures that are
associated with the making and using of PUMA products by 2020.”

The statement continued, “Puma understands the scope of the commitment to be a
longterm vision – with short term practice to be defined in the clarification
of actions to follow. To ensure transparency, PUMA will report on the progress
of this commitment in its annual Puma Sustainability Report.

An Action Plan will be set up by PUMA within eight weeks
from the time this commitment was made.

[1]All hazardous chemicals means all those that show
intrinsically hazardous properties (persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic
(PBT); very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB); carcinogenic, mutagenic
and toxic for reproduction (CMR); endocrine disruptors (ED). This will require
establishing – ideally with other industry actors – a corresponding list of the
hazardous chemicals concerned that will be regularly reviewed.

[2]This means taking preventive action before waiting for
conclusive scientific proof regarding cause and effect between the substance
(or activity) and the damage. It is based on the assumption that some hazardous
substances cannot be rendered harmless by the receiving environment and that
prevention of potentially serious or irreversible damage is required, even in
the absence of full scientific certainty.

[3]This means the commitment applies to the environmental
practices of the entire company and for the whole product-folio of the company.
This includes, as a longterm vision, all its suppliers or facilities
horizontally across all owned brands and licensed companies as well as
vertically down its supply chain. As a first step – within 18 months – this
will cover all Tier 1 and vertical suppliers across the PUMA brand. Through
this step PUMA aims to exert power through its Tier 1 suppliers down to Tier 2
suppliers which include wet processes.”