Gap Inc. publishes 2020 Global Sustainability Report

San Francisco-based company, Gap Inc. has released its 2020 Global Sustainability Report, which summarises the company’s initiatives and progresses toward its sustainability objectives. The report details the company’s international efforts as well as those of its brands, including Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, and Athleta.

The report includes an overview of the firm’s development of an inclusive workplace, community involvement, and equality programs, as well as an outline of a variety of sustainable activities undertaken by both brands and the company as a whole. The corporation has indicated that each label has adopted activities related to at least one of the three pillars, which were developed on a three-pillar plan – environmental, social, and governance.

Gap Inc.’s chief growth transformation officer, Sally Gilligan, said that they’re committed to growing their business by enabling safe, fair working conditions for the people who make their products, enabling access and opportunity across their business, and addressing environmental impact across their value chain.

Gap Inc. declared a goal of 100% more sustainable cotton by 2025, with the firm currently on track thanks to a relationship with the US Cotton Trust Protocol. It claims that each of its member businesses has incorporated more sustainable products and processes into their supply chains, with Old Navy aiming to use 100% sustainably sourced cotton by 2022.

In addition, for its 2020 Spring Collection, Banana Republic used over 60% sustainable sources, including denim pieces, while Gap debuted its Generation Good collection, which uses organic and recycled textiles.

Gap Inc. has stated its commitment to eliminate single-use plastics by 2030, a goal it is well on its way to reaching thanks to a number of industry alliances, including as a signatory member of the Fashion Pact, which strives to develop alternatives to single-use plastics. The company’s new clothing folding guidelines, which they claim have reduced the size of polybags, as well as the deployment of a new 50% recycled content mailer, were also highlighted in the report.

Over the past year, a few of its member brands have introduced a number of significant sustainability projects. Gap’s Gap for Good commitment has seen the business implement a water-saving Washwell™ program, which will account for 91% of Gap denim manufactured in 2020. Since 2016, the scheme has saved the shop 402 million liters of water, according to the company.

Athleta has shown its devotion to the company’s sustainability goals by constructing a solar farm in North Carolina, which went live earlier this year. The move is part of the sporting brand’s ambition to offset 100% of its annual operational footprint.

Gap Inc. included its achievement toward reaching one million women and girls by 2022 through its Personal Advancement and Career Enhancement Programme in appreciation of its women-led business. The initiative, which now has 804,000 participants, intends to provide women with life skills, technical training, and job advancement support.

Furthermore, Old Navy’s This Way ONward outreach effort has met more than half of its target. With 10,000 graduates now enrolled, the initiative aspires to deliver 20,000 job opportunities to underserved youth by 2015.

The firm vowed to improve access to drinking water and sanitation for two million people by 2023 through the USAID Gap Inc. Women plus Water Alliance, executing the change inside India’s textile manufacturing areas. Gap Inc. announced that by 2020, it had helped 650,000 individuals obtain greater access to water and sanitation.