Shifting times
Today’s consumer voice is a potent force in the fight for a healthier planet, and a Kiwi company listening is The Warehouse Group (TWG).
It’s fair to say the world is confronting tough lessons right now and business leaders are under pressure to make swift, enduring change. The bold among them are overhauling cradle-to-grave business practices, doing a complete 180, in a surge towards elevating our collective futures in the name of planet’s environmental wellbeing and worker welfare.
Implementing globally transformative, transparent sustainability practices is a challenging proposition for behemoth operations. Particularly for a business – one of New Zealand’s largest – that prides itself on offering Kiwis affordable, quality, durable products.
With a long history of supporting local communities, people and the environment, The Warehouse Group (TWG), which includes iconic brands The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, Noel Leeming, Torpedo7, 1-day. co.nz and TheMarket.com, celebrated a significant milestone this month, that of being one year carbon neutral and CarboNZero-certified. It was the first large company in Australasia and only the third major retailer in the world to achieve the certification. It’s another step closer to TWG progressing its mission to become New Zealand’s most sustainable retailer.
In 2020, TWG’s top priority continues to be on guardianship of all its people, the planet and innovating in product development and service delivery.
Its commitment goes beyond simply making ethical choices, extending to working with
NGOs, businesses, governments and communities across a complex, multi-tiered supply chain of international manufacturers.
With almost every Kiwi walking through TWG’s retail doors each year, the company is committed to not only implementing change for good, but inspiring its team and customers to do the same.
From source
TWG is one of New Zealand’s most popular clothing retailers, something that compelled The Warehouse to join The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), the world’s largest cotton sustainability programme. BCI’s focus is on reducing environmental stress through training farmers on water efficiency, a holistic approach to soil health and ecology, chemical awareness, and welfare of the industry’s 250 million workers.
In 2004, recognising the company owed a duty of care to also protect manufacturing worker health, safety and conditions, TWG launched its Ethical Sourcing Programme.
The company cemented its responsibility to ensure standards were upheld by its suppliers by opening its first office in Shanghai, China to be the offshore face and influence of its brands.
Transparency and continuous improvement are core TWG priorities, and while it’s firmly on the road, the company acknowledges there are issues still to be addressed. In 2018 it released a list of its suppliers and comparative real wage and working hour tables for the apparel factories where it sources its product as just one example of this commitment to transparency.
Climate responsibility
As a founding member of the Climate Leaders Coalition, TWG is committed to deliver a 32 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030. It has also committed to a robust emissions-offsetting programme to combat global climate change through the investment in Gold Standard carbon credit programmes in countries where it operates, namely India, China and Bangladesh.
This voluntary commitment enables businesses to offset their carbon emissions by investing in sustainable development projects benefitting global communities.
TWG therefore has a direct hand in elevating impoverished communities by increasing employment opportunities, improving infrastructure and health outcomes, and increasing local environmental biodiversity.
Projects have included a large scale solar project in Rajasthan, India; investment in safer, low-smoke cooking stoves that emit fewer toxins; improving the health of women and children in Bangladesh; and investing in solar technology to raise indoor air quality and living conditions for households in China’s poorest regions.
Renewable energy
Combustion vehicles are out and electric vehicles and e-bikes are in. More than 70 of TWG’s 311 company vehicles have transitioned to electric vehicles with the remainder pencilled in to make the switch over the next two years. Four EV trucks will be added to the fleet in April. Transport options for people at head office include six electric bikes, proving so popular they’ve collectively travelled the equivalent of Cape Reinga to Bluff more than three times since their introduction.
The company’s mission for a greener New Zealand has spilled over into infrastructure with 24 public-access electric vehicle fast-charging stations occupying The Warehouse carparks nationwide, a number set to increase this year.
Packaging and products
TWG is taking a proactive stand on packaging, committing to reduce superfluous product packaging, rerouting the story of plastic destined for landfill.
The company uses recyclable, reusable and compostable alternatives where possible, making switches such as The Warehouse bed sheet range now enclosed in reusable fabric pouches.
It has replaced plastic filler packaging dispatched from its distribution centre, opting instead for kerbside-recyclable, paper-based packaging. Product samples sent from China have also switched from plastic wrap to air pillows, reducing the use of non-recyclable plastic.
Meeting consumer demand, The Warehouse has increased its ecoconscious range to include reusable cotton produce bags, bamboo-stemmed cotton buds, bamboo wooden pegs and reusable bamboo straws, with product offerings planned to grow.
Waste repurposing and diversion
Giving new life to waste materials has been critical to TWG’s pivot towards a circular economy. The company’s participation in The Packaging Forum’s soft plastic recycling scheme has channelled more than 1.5 tonnes of soft plastics into recycling each month.
Underpinning a transition to circularity is innovation, which is exemplified by recycled soft plastics from Torpedo7 being used to create foam rollers and in-store countertops, and Warehouse Stationery’s recent rollout of the first-to-market wheat paper made up of 100 per cent recycled and discarded materials.
TWG also partnered with RE:MOBILE through the company’s Noel Leeming stores to offer ongoing collection points for disused mobile phones, encouraging technology repurposing.