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‘Beat rivals via environment-friendly practices’
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Posted on Nov 08 2006
The local garment industry may have lost its edge due to the lifting of textile quotas, but Saipan manufacturers can still distinguish themselves from foreign competitors by improving and marketing their environmental performance, according to an environmental guidebook for Saipan garment factories.
The Green Garments Guidebook, prepared by the U.S.-based environmental consulting firm Tetra Tech Em. Inc., noted that more and more retailers were becoming conscious about the environmental practices of their suppliers.
Gap, Nike, and adidas-Salomon are only some of the companies that have implemented annual sustainability reporting; they are voluntarily sharing information regarding social and environmental performance.
Tetra Tech predicts that, as this practice becomes more common, retailers may look to require similar reporting from their suppliers.
“In a globally competitive industry, Saipan garment factories can gain the attention of retail clients by actively communicating their environmental performance,” Tetra Tech wrote in the guidebook.
“Retailers around the world are facing increased public awareness regarding supply-chain management. As a result, many retailers will value garment factories that voluntarily provide information regarding its environmental programs because it helps them document their environmental stewardship for their customers, and saves time in evaluating and auditing their suppliers,” the consulting group added.
Tetra Tech said there were various ways a garment factory could leverage environmental performance as distinguishing factor. Two examples are having a corporate environmental policy statement and maintaining detailed environmental performance metrics.
Tetra Tech prepared the Green Garments Guidebook with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, administered by the CNMI Division of Environmental Agency.
The Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association endorsed the project, with nine of its members providing operating data between May 2004 and May 2005.
The guidebook provided the local garment industry with recommendations for reducing energy and water use, as well as solid waste generation, at the factories and on-site worker housing dormitories.
