Sustainable Apparel Coalition Solicits Feedback on Materials Index

 

The tool will provide designers more insight into how the SACs Materials Sustainability Index (MSI) scores materials. The MSI was originally created by Nike and is a result of more than eight years of materials research and analysis. In 2012, Nike donated it to the SAC, an open source coalition for incorporation into the first version of the Higg Index, which is designed to help brands assess the environmental impacts a product has throughout its lifecycle from the moment crop is planted or an oil well sunk through manufacturing, distribution and ownership all the way to the landfill. Ultimately, SAC hopes its members, who represent two thirds of global apparel production, will use the Higg Index to design products that use less water, harmful chemicals, energy and other inputs and produce less waste, effluent and emissions.

 

SAC has the overwhelming support of the worlds largest sporting goods trade associations, apparel brands and suppliers as well as many department stores and NGOs dedicated to protecting the environment and workers rights. Industry members include Adidas, Asics, Columbia Sportswear, L.L.Bean, Mountain Equipment Co-op, New Balance, Nike, Patagonia, Puma, REI, VF Corp. WL Gore & Associates. 

 

The goal of the web tool is to dramatically increase transparency into how the MSI derives its scores and enable the public to submit new data to improve the quality of the scores prior to the next release of the Higg Index.

 

The SAC invites organizations to submit data on the environmental performance of materials for evaluation for inclusion in the MSI. The deadline for submissions is June 30, 2013. Any submissions received after this date will be held until the next review cycle, expected to begin in Q1 2014. The SAC’s Higg Index 2.0 will compute sustainability scores in part from the data compiled through the updated MSI.
The MSI web tool can be viewed at msi.apparelcoalition.org.