White as snow?

Jenny Edwards checks out the companies behind fleece jumpers and jackets.

Fleece jumpers and jackets used to be the technical clothing of choice for the outdoor fanatic, but have now become an everyday wardrobe item. Fleeces are made from polyester and are hypoallergenic, lightweight and dry easily, making them convenient to use. But polyester is made from petrochemicals, is non-biodegradable, and its manufacture uses an energy and water intensive process.(1) It's estimated that nearly ten percent of annual world oil production is used as a feedstock for plastics production and used for energy during manufacture of plastics.(2)

Made to last
Being non-biodegradable, plastics take a long time (often hundreds of years) to break down, potentially making them not a very green option for warm winter clothing. But also being hardwearing, fleeces are made to last. Helly Hansen, Lowe Alpine, Patagonia and Rohan offer repair services, and these are worth using to extend the life of your favourite fleece. Berghaus and Mountain Equipment both recommend that customers use outdoor clothing and equipment repair specialist Tundra (0191 419 3444).

Recycled
Polyester can be recycled, and ten years ago fleeces made from recycled 'feedstock' were widely available in the UK. Now only one brand, Patagonia, had a range of 'recycled' fleeces widely available at the time of the Ethical Consumer survey. Most fleece brands use Polartec fleece fabric manufactured by US company Malden Mills. Along with standard fleece, it produces a recycled fleece fabric which has about ninety percent recycled fibre content, but it makes up only ten percent of the company's product sales. The fibre is sourced from recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles (e.g. fizzy drink, cordial and cooking oil bottles) and post industrial polyester waste.(3) It takes twenty-five two litre fizzy drinks bottles to make one fleece jacket.(4) Patagonia is one of Malden Mills' largest customers for recycled fabric and sell a range of fleeces which contain recycled materials, but not all its fleeces contain recycled fibre, so check the label before you buy.

Environment reporting
Overall, environmental reporting by fleece manufacturers is poor; none of the companies producing fleeces received our top rating. The companies receiving the best ratings all produced environmental reports, but none of these were independently verified and only Pentland Group's included quantified future targets for environmental performance. Without publicly available future targets a company cannot be held accountable for improving its impact on the environment.

Code of Conduct
Most of the companies manufacture fleeces overseas, but only Patagonia had an independently monitored code of conduct for workers' rights. Berghaus, Nike and The North Face all had codes of conduct, but fell down on their scores as they either lacked clear effective procedures for monitoring of the code or lacked protection for collective bargaining or unionisation for workers.

Workers' rights
Without effective codes of conduct it is difficult to prevent workers' rights abuses in the clothing supply chain. Nike has been repeatedly criticised by Oxfam, amongst others. In a new report this year Oxfam criticised conditions in a Thai factory on the Burmese border, which ultimately supplied Nike and other companies. Four out of five workers were Burmese migrants, many illegal, who received around thirty percent of the minimum wage and endured 12 hour days. Pregnant women were also allegedly fired.5 In 2002 Oxfam reported on conditions at Nike suppliers in Indonesia where workers lived in extreme poverty and worked in dangerous conditions, inhaling toxic chemicals and having fingers cut off in machinery. Workers faced dismissal, jail or physical assault if they joined independent unions.(6)

Also in Indonesia, Pentland Group was criticised in 1999 for the use of factories where there had been allegations of child labour and military intervention in a strike.(7) A sub-contractor in India producing goods for a number of companies, including Pentland, also had been found to be hiding production processes from an independent monitor.(8)

Karrimor
Readers might be wondering where Karrimor is in this report. The Karrimor brand went into receivership, and has since been bought by Lonsdale Sports. Karrimor are not at present manufacturing fleeces and its new range will be launched in Autumn/Winter 2005 in the UK.(9)

Alternatives
Buy second hand, check out your local charity shops for bargains, and don't forget to rehome your unloved old fleeces by donating them to your local charity shop too.

Take action
Close the loop - make sure you recycle your plastic bottles and lobby your council to provide facilities where they do not currently exist. Only 4% of all plastic bottles sold in the UK are currently recycled. Ask your local outdoor shop to stock recycled fleeces - if shoppers demand them then production will increase.

References
References
1 www.greenchoices.org
2 Wasteline viewed 07/09/2004
3 Email from Malden Mills to Ethical Consumer 25/08/04
4 www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/home/environment/recycling viewed 07/09/04
5 Trading Away Our Rights. Women Working in Global Supply Chains Oxfam 2004
6 Clean Clothes Campaign Newsletter Issue 15 June 2002
7 UK Companies Operating in Indonesia CIIR January 1999
8 Dark Side of Football Clean Clothes Campaign June 2000
9 Telephone conversation between Karrimor and Ethical Consumer 18/08/04
10 Orkla website viewed 04/08/04
11 Jane's International Defence Directory 2004
12 Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade 30/11/2000
13 Who Owns Whom 2003/2004
14 www.warriorssociety.org 16/09/2003
15 ENDS Report Issue 342 July 2003
16 Multinational Monitor Vol 24 No 10 October 2003
17 Boycott Action News 25 September 1999
18 Ethical Consumer 64 April 2000
19 Jane's International Defence Directory 2004
20 The Ecologist May 2003