Levi Strauss & Co. has long pioneered practices to reduce the use of energy, water, chemicals and other materials in the apparel industry. We’ve worked hard to advance responsible chemical management and drive sustainable progress through our processes.
As a result of this ongoing work, we’ve been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as one of its Safer Choice Partners of the Year for our Screened Chemistry Program, which screens chemicals against human health and environmental hazard endpoints to identify chemicals that are best in class or better alternatives.
Levi Strauss & Co. used the U.S. EPA’s Safer Choice Program and GreenScreen® for Safer Chemicals as the basis for the Screened Chemistry Program. The Partner of the Year Awards recognize those who have used the Safer Choice Program to further safer chemistry and advance environmental protection.
The story of the Screened Chemistry Program dates back to 2012, when we pushed ourselves to lead the apparel industry toward more sustainable chemistry practices.
Utilizing the U.S. EPA Safer Choice Program and GreenScreen® for Safer Chemicals, we created a scoring system to rate chemicals and chemical formulations based on human health and environmental toxicity hazard endpoints.
Once the methodology was in place, we began rolling out the Screened Chemistry Program in our supply chain. We took a facility-based approach and began by piloting the framework with one of our garment finishing suppliers and their chemical suppliers. We also embedded the program in our innovation processes and in our chemical management system.
The ultimate goal is to have all LS&Co. suppliers using only chemicals that have been screened through the Screened Chemistry framework. That process is already being applied in our Eureka Innovation Lab, where our teams are formulating recipes for garment finishing using only chemicals that have been assessed through our program.
The Screened Chemistry Program takes a continuous improvement approach, and is helping to promote innovation, dialogue and awareness of sustainable chemistry among LS&Co. employees, our garment suppliers and chemical suppliers.
The next step? We’re sharing our approach with others across the apparel industry to increase the use of sustainable chemistry on a broader scale.
We’re very proud of our work. We consider ourselves pioneers and we feel we’re leading the industry into the future using our Screened Chemistry approach. This honor is a validation of that, and we sincerely appreciate the recognition.
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