PI Complaint Mechanisms

In May 2021, after a long pandemic delay, the first module of the Parntership Initiative (PI) Complaint Mechanisms was launched. This is a cooperation project between the Textiles Partnership, the Fair Wear Foundation and the Dutch Agreement on Sustainable Garments and Textile (AGT). The aim is to provide workers in the supply chain of the companies involved with better access to complaint mechanisms and redress. In addition, initial efforts are to be made towards a common, cross-initiative complaint mechanism.

As part of this cooperation, Fair Wear opened its cross-company complaint mechanism to a number of Partnership companies and AGT signatories. Since then, workers who work in the clothing factories of these companies have had the opportunity to contact Fair Wear in the event of grievances.

Esprit, s.Oliver, Seidensticker, G-Star and HEMA are participating in the first pilot phase in Vietnam and India. Femnet and Arisa support the project from the civil society side. In the future, it is planned to expand the project onto other countries and companies and a possibile industry-wide complaint mechanism.

Further information on the Partnership Initiative and the pilot project can be found here: Partnership Initiative Complaint Mechanisms

PI Tamil Nadu

In November 2021, the Partnership Initiative (PI) Tamil Nadu started its second phase. The participants are working together to improve working conditions in textile factories in Tamil Nadu, especially in spinning mills. They want to expand the trainings with management and workers in terms of scope and quality and accompany factories more closely. For this reason, PI is focusing on a smaller number of spinning mills in the second phase: Ten pilot factories were selected in each of the four districts.

Also new is the involvement of trainers from the Tchibo Worldwide Enhancement of Social Quality (WE) program. Tchibo launched this in 2008 as a public-private partnership with GIZ. The WE trainers contribute their many years of expertise in training conception and company approach in order to ensure greater acceptance and participation on the part of factory management together with SAVE.

Further information on the Partnership Initiative Tamil Nadu

PI Organic Cotton

In 2021, the Expert Group on Natural Fibres decided to launch the Partnership Initiative (PI) Organic Cotton in India. The PI envisages supporting at least 6,500 smallholder farmers in the conversion of cultivation from conventional to organic cotton by 2025. The aim of the PI is to increase the amount of organic cotton available on the world market and thus facilitate access for Partnership members. The target volume for the total term of BI is 10,000 MT Lint Cotton. The PI’s main implementation partner is the Organic Cotton Accelerator (OCA).

This goes hand in hand with the Textiles Partnership’s efforts to achieve a share of 70% sustainable cotton for 2025, of which 20% is organic cotton and cotton in-conversion.

Detailed information on the latest Parntersip Initiative can be found in this news article.

Chemical Fibres

The EG Chemical Fibres started in 2018 with the aim of defining what sustainable chemical fibres are and which minimum requirements should apply. This is intended to support companies in the selection of sustainable materials and fiber alternatives.

The EG has produced a glossary on circular economy and started work on a roadmap in 2021, the first building block which includes factsheets on wood-based (cellulosic) and synthetic fibres. The Partnership member German Institute for Textile + Fiber Research (DITF) is working on examining the fibers from different perspectives and establishing decision criteria for a better evaluation of the fiber. The impact on the environment and the quality of the fibres are particularly relevant.

Gender-Based Violence

Together with other multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSI), the members of the expert group revised the Gender Data & Impact Tool developed by BSR to collect gender-disaggregated data. The MSIs have simplified it and adapted it to the needs of the companies. A video describes the process and explains the tool. More about this in the news article.

Together with the International Association of the Natural Textile Industry (IVN) and the GIZ global project Inclusion of People with Disabilities, the members of the EG have developed a guideline for inclusion in 2021. The guide supports companies and their suppliers in promoting the employment of people with disabilities in a non-discriminatory manner.

In 2021, the Textiles Partnership published the handout on due diligence, social audits and gender-based violence. It was drawn up by the EG and is now used by the members. For example, Brands Fashion uses the jointly developed interview guide in close dialogue with its suppliers on the subject of gender-based violence. The dialogue-based approach also meets with interest and approval among suppliers.

Further information on discrimination and gender-based violence can be found on the Textiles Partnership website.

Climate protection

To keep temperatures within the 1.5°C rise, the industry must achieve an absolute reduction in emissions of 45% by 2030 and CO2 neutrality by 2050. To this end, the Textiles Partnership is guided by the requirements of the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action. The Partnership members rely on the accounting of their emissions in order to establish targeted measures at producer level. For companies, the Playbook of the Fashion Charter offers an orientation.

The Partnership, its members and partners have developed various tools, including a plan of the conversion measures in stages and ideal time windows as well as a comprehensive comparison of accounting tools “Assessment GHG tools”. In addition, the Fashion Charter developed Climate Action Trainings in cooperation with GIZ and individual companies. The e-learnings are primarily intended to support producers and can be freely used online.

The time pressure and the complex supply chain structures require a high willingness to cooperate on the part of companies, suppliers and service providers. That is why it is important to jointly implement measures across the board, drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in production and switch to renewable energies. To this end, the Textiles Partnership, its members and cooperation partners are doing what is necessary and possible: they share knowledge and experience and join forces to jointly slow down climate change.

Further information on climate and greenhouse gas emissions can be found on the Textiles Partnership website.

Accelerating Circularity Project Europe (ACPE)

The topic of circular economy has developed great momentum in the textile sector in the recent years. It is on the political agenda and consumer interest is also increasing. No wonder that (textile) companies are also becoming more and more involved in circular economy. However, no one can implement a circular economy for everyone, and transnational cooperation and synergies between the actors in the textile supply chain are necessary.

That is why the Accelerating Circularity Project Europe (ACPE) hits the nerve of the times. The aim is to enable the textile industry to establish a European circular system. To this end, the entire supply chain (collectors, recyclers, sorters, pre-processers and brands) is working together on Textile to Textile Recycling. The Textiles Partnership has been part of the ACPE since the very beginning and is represented on the Steering Committee. This gives Partnership companies free access to the project.

Nicole Hühn from Sympatex calls on other companies to participate in the project: “It is only a logical consequence that it goes in this direction. We have collection systems and tons of used materials. With ACPE’s project, we have never been closer to getting everyone involved around one table. It would be a pity if the collection, recycling and yarn spinning worked, but the brands that would use the material were missing.”

Recyclable Product Clones

The Working Group Recycling – part of the Expert Group Circular Economy – launched the product clones project in March 2021 together with the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences. Nine Partnership companies nominated ten products. The aim was to identify barriers to the recyclability of the products and to design the products more sustainably. The university examined the products primarily for recyclability, durability and the use of sustainable materials.

New product ideas from a workshop with circular.fashion can already be put into practice. In 2021, the participants will build on the project and consider how the results can be scaled and what a continuation may look like.

The contribution to the presentation of the results of the project can be found in the news article.

Read also the interview in this annual report with Maike Rabe from the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences on the product clone project.

Supply Chain Transparency

Supply chain transparency is a basic prerequisite for the implementation of corporate due diligence. Companies can only respond effectively to social, environmental and corruption risks in their supply chain if they know where, how and by whom their products are manufactured.

The aggregated list of production sites that the Textiles Partnership has been publishing via the Open Apparel Registry (OAR) since 2020 also contributes to this. Since 2021, companies and the Textiles Partnership have been able to locate their production sites on a world map and embed them on their website – a tool promoted by the Textiles Partnership. The world map with the aggregated supplier data of the Partnership members can be found on the Partnership website.

The supply to the aggregated list is voluntary. Meanwhile, 25 member companies participate in the list, including companies that have not yet published supplier information. The aggregated list currently includes almost 8600 production sites.

Sharing supply chain information enables better cooperation between members and the more effective use of synergies. This is relevant for a variety of Partnership activities: for example, the aggregated supplier list is used for comparison with an incident list to inform members about incidents in factories or to identify shared production sites in order to be able to implement joint Partnership activities. 

Cotton (EG Natural Fibres)

In addition to the conception and initiation of the Partnership Initiative Organic Cotton, the Expert Group (EG) Natural Fibres together with Textile Exchange and GOTS dealt with cotton in conversion in more depth. The transition from conventional to organic cotton is accompanied by a transition period of 24 months (in Europe) and 36 months (in India and the United States), during which particular attention is paid to improving soil fertility and restoring eco-balance.

With a view to the high demand for organic cotton, an increasing investment in cotton in-conversion is required, as the currently available cultivation capacities are not sufficient to meet the increasing demand for organic cotton. A clear commitment to cotton in-conversion by the members of the Textiles Partnership creates an incentive for smallholder farmers to make the time-consuming and cost-intensive conversion to ecological practices, including their certification. This goes hand in hand with the fact that producers can rely on binding purchase quantities. It is precisely these support services that the partners of the pilot project and the Partnership Initiative Organic Cotton in India are providing.

Virgin Wool (EG Natural Fibres)

Member companies that procure virgin wool have committed themselves to ensuring compliance with animal welfare when obtaining virgin wool. This includes the internationally recognized Five Freedoms in Wool Production, including the renunciation of mulesing.

Following on from this, the Textiles Partnership organized an information event together with 4 Pfoten and Waschbär in 2021. This was dedicated to virgin wool, other types of wool and animal welfare. The further development of the Five Freedoms towards the Five-Domain Model, animal welfare risks in the extraction of shearing, merino, alpaca wool, angora and mohair and innovations in wool standards were discussed.

The Textiles Partnership supports wool-producing companies in developing their own declaration of principles on wool and animal welfare.

Further information on sector risk animal welfare

Pilot Project Organic Cotton

The Pilot Project Organic Cotton was successfully launched in June 2020 in South Odisha, India. Already in the first year, 992 small farmers were able to switch from conventional to organic cotton cultivation with a cultivation area of 570 ha. Contamination with genetically modified cotton could be ruled out for the entire production cycle.

In order to improve the economic resilience of the producers, an organic cotton premium and a Fairtrade premium payment were paid in addition to the minimum price. Added together, this was above the usual market price. Already in the first year, small farmers have signaled that they want to continue the cultivation of organic cotton.

Further information can be found on the Textiles Partnership website.

Complaint Mechanisms Project MUDEM

In addition to the Partnership Initiative Complaint Mechanisms, the Textiles Partnership cooperates with local structures – for example in Turkey: The Garment Worker Support Center (WSC) of the Turkish NGO MUDEM supports (refugee) workers in social and legal issues. Workers there can also draw attention to grievances in the workplace. Several Partnership companies also cooperate with MUDEM and ensure that workers in their supply chains know the WSC. In the event of incoming complaints, the companies, employees of the WSC and the respective suppliers work on a solution and remedial measures.

MUDEM-Refugee Support Center

The MUDEM – Refugee Support Center was founded in 2014 in Ankara (Turkey) to help asylum seekers, refugees, immigrants, victims of human trafficking, applicants for international protection and stateless persons at home and abroad. Today, MUDEM-RSC works in six cities, including Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, with over 100 employees and carries out eight projects that support refugees and asylum seekers in accessing rights and services. One of these projects is the Worker Support Center (WSC), which was founded in 2018. The WSC is a web-based project and offers workers in the textile industry free advice on social and legal problems as well as grievances in the workplace. Learn more here.

PI Living Wages

In the first phase of the Partnership Initiative (PI) Living Wages (May 2019-April 2021), the basic module Purchasing Practices and a training module were implemented. The training module included the implementation of training courses for suppliers of Partnership companies on the subject of price calculation and labour minute costing and was implemented by Fair Wear in September 2020. Partnership members can find training documents in the closed members area.

Living Wage Lab

The Living Wage Lab marks the second phase of the Partnership Initiative Living Wages. The aim is to support members in the development and implementation of individual strategies for living wages and to set up pilot projects together with producers and to develop scalable solutions.

The Living Wage Lab builds on the experiences and results of the previous modules of PI Living Wages and was developed by the Strategy Group on Living Wages, which was launched at the beginning of 2020.

Participants: Institut Südwind, Inkota, DGB, Aldi Süd, Bierbaum-Proenen, Chaps Online, Greiff, Hugo Boss, Kettelhack, KiK, Otto Group, Ortovox, Sympatex, Vaude, Waschbär and GIZ on behalf of BMZ.

Participating companies will also be offered training options, including cost calculation and improving their own purchasing practices.

Together with other organizations such as the Fair Wear Foundation, supplier training is to be offered. Further definable modules, for example in cooperation with the Action Collaboration Transformation (ACT) initiative, are to be added in the future.