Acne & sustainability
How sustainable is Acne ?
Acne sustainability score report
Last edited: 3 April 2013 by Mario
Last reviewed: 3 April 2013 by Mario
Last reviewed: 3 April 2013 by Mario
Questions about Climate Change/ Carbon Emissions
1 out of 4| 1. Is there a policy for the brand to minimize, reduce or compensate carbon emissions? |
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Acne Studios as taken several policy measures to reduce carbon emissions, such as optimising energy use in its building and making transportation & travel as climate friendly as possible (see link, pages 8-9). | Source |
| 2. Has the brand (company) disclosed the annual absolute carbon footprint of its 'own operations' (Scope 1 & 2) and has the brand already reduced or compensated 10% of these emissions in the last 5 years? |
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Acne Studios does not publish the annual carbon footprint of last years on its website. So it is not clear if the policy measures actually helped reduce the total annual carbon emissions. | Source |
| 3. Has the brand (company) set a target to reduce its absolute ‘own operations’ carbon emissions by at least 20% within the next 5 years? |
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Acne Studios does not communicate any information on target reductions for its carbon emissions on its website. | Source |
| 4. Does the brand (company) also have a policy to reduce/compensate carbon emissions generated from the product supply chain that is beyond own operations (Scope 3)? |
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Acne Studios does not communicate a policy to reduce the carbon emissions in the supply chain that is beyond own operations on its website. | Source |
Questions about Environmental Policy
0 out of 6| 1. Does the brand (company) use environmentally 'preferred' raw materials for more than 5% of its volume? |
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Acne Studios reports on goals to increase the use of preferable materials such as tencell or organic cotton. However, it is not clear what percentage of the total volume the current use of preferable materials represents (see link, page 5). | Source |
| 2. Does the brand (company) use environmentally 'preferred' raw materials for more than 10% of its volume? |
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See remark for environmental policy question 1. | Source |
| 3. Does the brand (company) use environmentally 'preferred' raw materials for more than 25% of its volume? |
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See remark for environmental policy question 1. | Source |
| 4. Is there a policy for the brand (company) to eliminate all hazardous chemicals from the whole lifecycle and all production procedures to make the clothes and footwear? |
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In terms of avoiding the use of harmful chemicals Acne Studios uses a "Resticted Chemical List" (RCL) which is in accordance with the EU legislation REACH and industry best practise. However, the RCL is not made public and REACH standards are not considered as sufficient (see link, page 6). | Source |
| 5. Does the brand (company) have a clear and effective policy to minimize environmental pollution of chromium and other harmful substances from leather tanning processes, e.g. by waste water treatment or by vegetable tanning? |
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Acne Studios reports a policy to use vegatable tanned leather for some of its leather products (instad of chromium tanned leather). However, the brand does not clearly describe any percentage on the total use of environmentally friendly tanned leather. The brand is therefore not clear about the scale and impact of this policy (see link, page 5). | Source |
| 6. Does the brand (company) have a clear target to phase out PVC in their products, and has the brand already achieved a PVC phase out level of more than 90%? |
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Acne Studies has started to phase out PVC in its products and packages but does not provide clear numbers how much percentage of its overall collection is already free of PVC (see link, page 6). | Source |
Questions about Labour Conditions/ Fair Trade
6 out of 8| 1. Does the brand (company) have a supplier Code of Conduct (CoC) which includes the following standards: No forced or slave labor, no child labor, no discrimination of any kind and a safe and hygienic workplace? |
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Acne Studios is a Fair Wear member and uses this Code of Conduct (see standards 1,2,3,7). For Labour Standards FWF, see link for questions 2&3 below. In the Labour Standards all these standards are mentioned. | Source |
| 2. Does this CoC include at least two of the following workers rights: 1. to have a formally registered employment relationship 2. to have a maximum working week of 48 hours with voluntary and paid overtime of 12 hours maximum 3. to have a sufficient living wage? |
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1. Yes, legally-binding employment relationships; 2. Yes, maximum workweek of 48 hours, overtime (max 12 hours) is voluntary; 3. Yes, commitment to implement payment of living wages (see link standards 5,6,8). | Source |
| 3. Does this Code of Conduct include the right for workers to form and join trade unions and bargain collectively; and in those situations where these rights are restricted under law, the right to facilitate parallel means of independent and free association and bargaining? |
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This right is mentioned, with reference to parallel means for the situation of law restrictions | Source |
| 4. Does the brand (company) have a published list of direct suppliers, that have collectively contributed to more than 90% of the purchase volume? |
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Acne Studios does not provide a published list of its suppliers on its website. | Source |
| 5. Is the brand (company) a member of a collective initiative that aims to improve labor conditions, or does the brand (company) purchase its supplies from accredited factories with improved labor conditions? |
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Acne Studios is an affiliate of Fair Wear Foundation (FWF). | Source |
| 6. Do independent civil society organizations like NGO's and labor unions have a decisive voice in this collective initiative or in these certification schemes? |
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Acne Studios is a member of FWF, which means that Labour Unions and/or business-independent NGO’s have a formal and co-decisive voice within the initiative and are co-responsible for the integrity and credibility of the initiative. | Source |
| 7. Does the brand (company) annually report on the results of its labor conditions policy? |
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Acne has a publicly available annual audit report on the Fair Wear Foundation website. | Source |
| 8. Has the brand’s labor conditions policy resulted in a ‘compliance level’ of at least 30% of the purchase volume, or a ‘monitored level' of at least 80%? |
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In its Management Systems Audit report for August 2012, the FWF reports that 65.6% of Acne Studios Studio´s production has been covered by the company’s monitoring system. 32.5% of the production been audited by FWF’s local team (see link, page 7). | Source |