PJ Categories

Categories for Brand Research 2017

 

We are researching brands and their sustainability practices for our searchable brand directory. 

First and foremost, we look for publicly available self-reported and third-party reported information for these main categories: 

 

Size and Business Model: this category focuses on the size of the business and its operations; how many employees, annual revenue, the type of business model, etc.

Transparency & Traceability: this category focuses on how open a brand is about communicating about its supply chain, and its social and environmental impact. What does it share about:

• Its suppliers: what level and how much of each level
• Tier 1: factories & contracted suppliers ie. embroidery/printers etc
• Tier 2: Raw material processing/textile mills/dye houses
• Tier 3: Raw material suppliers
• Reporting of its social practices - does it report its social impact & how 
• Reporting of its environmental practices - does it report its env impact & how 

Social: this category looks at how a brand is treating the people in its supply chain. 

• What certifications does it or its suppliers have - at what tiers
• Code Conduct & what is it based on (ie. ILO labour standards, ETI basecode)
  • We only report on anything that is missing from the code, ie. no collective bargaining etc
  • Is it posted in factories in local language
  • Is it a condition of doing business with the brand - at what tiers
• Freedom of Association - What is it doing to ensure the rights of its workers are met
  • Multistakeholder initiatives and partnership programs ie. Better Factories etc
  • Grievance mechanism?
  • Purchasing Practices to support its policies
• Monitoring
  • How is it measuring/assessing that its policies are being carried out
  • Is it announced/unannounced/brand/3rd party & how frequently
  • What results does it share & how does it follow up
  • Who does it partner with & what about audit fatigue?
• Training
  • How does it work to improve its suppliers practices/workers skills

Environment: this category focuses on understanding how a brand is treating the environment.

• Materials
  • What sustainable materials do they use
  • What certifications do they have: Organic/FT/FSC/GRS etc
  • How much of its material use is sustainable
  • Animal welfare policies
• Resource use
  • Are they working to reduce their env footprint?
  • Energy/water: does it measure, how does it minimise use/does it use renewable energy/does it offset/does it recycle water/low water cotton etc. 
  • Chemicals: does it have a RSL/does it require wastewater treatment/does it use low impact dyes/what about textile processing/does it provide chem managment training/invest in systems or infrastructure/multi stakeholder initiatives
  • Waste: how is it working to reduce waste during production (textiles mills, cutting & production)
  • Waste: how is it working to reduce in post production: overstock/returns/repairs/takeback/recycled etc
  • Packaging: Does it use sustainable packaging/at what stages
  • Transport: Shipping/distribution emissions/customer freight what is it doing to minimise the energy use/emissions
• Monitoring
  • How is it measuring/assessing that its policies are being carried out
  • Is it announced/unannounced/brand/3rd party & how frequently
  • What results does it share & how does it follow up
  • Who does it partner with & what about audit fatigue?
• Training
  • How does it work to improve its suppliers practices/workers skills

Innovation: this category focuses on highlighting any innovative efforts by the brand to go above and beyond the status quo in any aspect of its operations and supply chain. 

• What innovations has it invested in?

Intention: this category focuses on highlighting goals and commitments made by the brand to improve the social and environmental aspects of its supply chain. 

• What goals has it set, and how does it intend to track these, ie. partnerships formed/reporting systems etc
• Is it part of any multi stakeholder initiatives?

Management: this category highlights the main leadership of the brand, the CEO, their salary and any reported issues or scandals.

Community: this category highlights the brand’s community and CSR efforts, as well as multi stakeholder initiatives. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) refers to business practices involving initiatives that benefit society. A business's CSR can encompass a wide variety of tactics, from giving away a portion of a company's proceeds to charity, to implementing "greener" business operations