{"id":12997,"date":"2016-11-04T17:11:18","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T21:11:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/zara-how-to-reduce-carbon-footprint-in-fast-fashion-one-of-the-most-polluting-industry-of-the-world\/"},"modified":"2016-11-04T17:27:49","modified_gmt":"2016-11-04T21:27:49","slug":"zara-how-to-reduce-carbon-footprint-in-fast-fashion-one-of-the-most-polluting-industry-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/zara-how-to-reduce-carbon-footprint-in-fast-fashion-one-of-the-most-polluting-industry-in-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"ZARA \u2013 How to reduce carbon footprint in fast-fashion, one of the most polluting industry in the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

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ZARA operates in the fast-fashion industry which is both one of the industry which contributes the most to climate change \u2013 Eco Watch calls it \u201cthe 2nd<\/sup> dirtiest industry after Big Oil\u201d [1] – and one of the industry which suffers the most from it. As Greenpeace journalist Shuk-Wah Chung says in her April 2016 online article \u201cFast fashion is drowning the world\u201d, \u201cEvery piece of clothing we buy has had an impact on our planet before we even bring it home\u201c [2]. Fast fashion is an industry which damages the environment through multiple ways: over-consumption of raw materials \u2013it requires 2,700 liters of water to make just one t-shirt, the amount of water an average person drinks over the course of 900 days! -, high utilization chemicals in the production process, high consumption of oil and gas in the delivery process and immense waste generation because of the nature of the consumption. \u201cEach year 60 billion square meters of textile are left on the cutting room floor. Each year over\u00a080 billion\u00a0pieces of clothing are produced worldwide, and after its short lifespan,\u00a0three out of four garments\u00a0will end up in landfills or be incinerated. Only a quarter will be recycled.\u201d [2]\u00a0says Shuk-Wah.<\/p>\n

The impact of the fast-fashion industry on climate change is all the more an urging issue as it creates a vicious circle by impacting the industry sustainability itself. Indeed, climate change threaten both the raw material availability and the production capabilities of the fast-fashion industry by introducing a high variability in supply and production prices which can hurt the brands\u2019 sustainability in the future.<\/p>\n

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ZARA started recognizing this issue a decade ago and has since placed CSR at the center of its strategy. Inditex (ZARA\u2019s mother company) 2015 annual report included an Environmental Sustainability Policy document which states ZARA\u2019s objectives: \u201cIn the conduct of its business, Inditex integrates sustainable development criteria in all its business areas, ensuring an efficient management of human resources and an appropriate protection of the environment and the eco-systems.\u201d [3] Since 2012, ZARA has committed to reduce its carbon footprint with the following target in mind:<\/p>\n