CWS Target – Doing Business Sustainably!

Germany-based textile and hygiene service provider CWS aims to become the most sustainable company in the textile care industry by 2024. That is what CEO Jürgen Höfling recently stated when he presented the 2019/2020 sustainability report based on the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative. Here are some results:

  • The proportion of fairly produced workwear from 2018 to 2019 increased by 17 percent.
  • In that same year, the company reduced the CO 2 emissions by an average of 28 percent.
  • Last year, CWS employees repaired 2.3 million workwear items.
  • 55 percent of the garments produced consist of sustainable materials

Some more outcomes are based on the report’s three focuspoints:

  • “Putting People First” – as a result, the accident rate fell by eight percentage points in 2019.
  • “Sustain Business” – the company has been working with 72 percent of its trading partners for at least five consecutive years.
  • ‘Optimized circular economy’ lead to outcomes such as: 55 percent of the garments produced in-house are made from sustainable materials and the “SmartWash” dispenser system saves up to 90 percent water and 60 percent soap.

In the coming years, the company intends to get involved in three other areas: the health and safety of people along the value chain, in optimized product and service cycles and in sustainable management.