Social Responsibility
We strive to maintain the highest ethical standards in relation to employees, local communities, consumers, business partners, and authorities.
The Environment
Caring for the planet, minimising our impact on it and constantly reducing our environmental footprint.
Economic Viability
Securing the future of our company, the jobs of the employees, and the strength of our brand by being economically viable.
ECCO promotes the health, wellbeing, and safety of our employees and we respect all races, religions, and genders and wish to provide a workplace free of any harassment or abuse.
ECCO has a strong commitment to the environment in its Code of Conduct and works to constantly become more sustainable. Our products are long-lasting as opposed to fast fashion and with a strong emphasis on comfort and quality.
ECCO has historically put a major part of its surplus aside for new products, new developments, and to guard against future problems. No business is sustainable, if it is not economically viable.
In 2020, ECCO published a clear plan for the specific environmental goals the Company is pursuing:
Chemicals
To reduce the consumption of chemicals and gradually replace them with bio-based substances and to work on recycling chemicals where not easily replaceable. The target, subject to new technologies, is to only use bio-based, recycled, or recyclable chemicals and substances by 2030.
Production Chain
ECCO has chosen to own, manage, and be accountable for its full production chain, where possible, placing us in a rather unique situation for a shoe and leather manufacturer. It is a situation where ECCO can set the highest standards and directly affect improvements every day.
Some Of The Improvements Already Made Include:
We strive to reduce our impact on the planet every day
All ECCO’s tanneries worldwide are equipped with waste water treatment facilities and all have been assessed by the independent Leather Working Group awarding all tanneries silver standard. ECCO is involved in and also invested into several groups and companies that all work on constant improvement in energy, water, and waste fields. We strive to reduce our impact on the planet every day.
Steps to saving water. In 2019, ECCO Leather introduced DriTanTM technology as the first step towards water-free leather fabrication. The technology has helped save 25 million litres of water in our tanneries each year, and a further 600 tonnes of waste from landfill.
Striving for CO2 neutrality
We are committed to reducing our carbon footprint. In 2021, ECCO Leather in the Netherlands will become our first 100% carbon-neutral site, with plan for other locations to follow in the future.
Steps to actively reduce waste. In 2020, we recovered or recycled 73% of waste from our shoe factories around the world and thereby reduced landfill. In our leather tanneries, recovery and recycling was at 65% and continuous improvements are taking place.
Transforming solar power into energy
Part of ECCO’s international production is already powered by renewable energy sources such as solar as well as own-sourced bio-gas and bio-diesel. In 2019, ECCO Leather established a new cutting plant in Xiamen fully equipped with voltaic solar, making the plant 100% energy self-sufficient.
New products from upcycling of materials. In addition to recycling, we are finding more ways to reduce waste. In 2020, we launched the ECCO Tannery Series with a collection of shopper bags made from upcycled remnant leather. The bags repurpose leftover samples from ECCO’s innovation labs into a unique and utilitarian shopper tote, for everyday use.