Exploration is defined as the act of searching or traveling a terrain for the purpose of discovery. For The North Face, it defines our raison d’être. In scientific research, exploration is the attempt to develop an understanding. We have to explore together this concept of sustainability and to act on our understanding — incomplete as it may be.   — Lizzy Hawker, The North Face athelete
  • Todd Spaletto explains why sustainability is part of our heritage
  • Our global reach
  • Sustainability Manager Adam Mott explains our program philosophy
  • Key sustainability data in one handy table
  • Five areas are critical for our sustainability program
  • A formal stakeholder session provides valuable feedback
“Our products are built to last a long time thus reducing their impact on the environment. From there, our sustainability philosophy is to focus on our largest volume materials to create the greatest environmental benefit. In addition to incorporating recycled and renewable content in our products, we are implementing the bluesign® standard, a system for managing chemical inputs and resource efficiency in the supply chain. ” — Philip Hamilton, Vice-President of Product
  • We work with the bluesign® standard to reduce supply chain impacts
  • We build products that last and that have a lifetime warranty
  • We use castor oil to replace petroleum-derived materials in our Venture Line of apparel
  • Almost 42,000 plastic bottles were incorporated into our 2010 Denali fleece collection
  • We are reevaluating our approach to sourcing cotton
  • Our internal Product Rating Tool drives sustainable design
Our passion for the outdoors inspires us to preserve the well-being of our planet. We believe that few issues affect The North Face as deeply as climate change. Our athletes, customers and employees return from expeditions with stories of receding glaciers, decimated forests, unprecedented drought, and a natural world that is changing visibly. This has energized our efforts to minimize our environmental impact and to protect the earth for future generations.
  • Our athletes help us educate others on this issue
  • We are working to improve our progress against our GHG reduction goal
  • Our suppliers reduced GHG emissions by 3.1 million pounds in the manufacturing of our products
  • We offset 9,662 MT of GHG emissions, equivalent to keeping 1,895 cars off the road for a year
  • We joined with other forward-looking companies to support climate change policies through BICEP
Just as with any expedition we undertake, our goal is to leave no trace. On any journey, carrying less waste out starts with bringing less in, using durable materials, and reusing and repurposing as much as possible. In keeping with this philosophy, we are committed to eliminating waste and inefficiencies in our operations, manufacturing, packaging, and in our day-to-day activities. Here’s what we’re working on:
  • Creating a culture of sustainability helps reduce office waste
  • Follow our trail to paperless workbooks
  • Our Closed Loop Tote bags “close the loop” by using scrap fabric
  • We joined with TerraCycle to upcycle plastic polybags
  • A new recycling program proves successful
  • Watch the video about our supply chain water and wastewater work
At The North Face, our sense of community extends far beyond the walls of our offices. We ensure that our associates are motivated in their jobs and that the workers in our supply chain are treated fairly. We support the communities where we work and play and we partner with many organizations that share our mission to enable exploration. Our goal is to ignite a passion to preserve the natural world by enabling access to outdoor activities and building a sustainable connection between people and the planet.
  • Our mission to enable exploration expanded its reach with four new programs in 2010
  • Three athletes share their inspiring stories
  • We showcase our work with the Conservation Alliance and the Khumbu Climbing School
  • We have strong protocols in place to protect the workers in our supply chain
  • Our 2,080 associates are the source of our success
We are pleased to present our first public sustainability report. By providing this picture of where we are today and where we plan to go, we are engaging our stakeholders and upholding our commitment to transparency and corporate responsibility. We have followed the Global Reporting Initiative standards for a C Level Report. While much of this report leans heavily toward the achievements in our United States office, we also provide details on some of our global sustainability work.

  • Standard disclosures for the Global Reporting Initiative
The North Face 2010 Sustainability Report: Product

Recycled Content

Our entire line of products using Polartec® recycled fleece kept over 49,000 plastic bottles from landfills in 2010.


“We incorporate recycled content into many of our products to help prevent the flow of waste to landfills and to reduce the need to extract natural resources from the earth. Starting deep in the supply chain, we develop about one thousand materials each year and try to achieve the greatest environmental gains possible. To make the biggest, fastest difference each season, we focus on improvements in our largest volume fabrics. Our entire line of products using Polartec® recycled fleece kept over 49,000 plastic bottles from landfills in 2010.” — Adam Mott, Corporate Sustainability Manager

Despite cost pressures that affected recycled polyester in 2009 and 2010, we have goals to increase the volume of the recycled fabric we use in each Fall and Spring product season and to bring recycled content into a broader range of materials, focusing on our highest volume products.

Recycled Fabric
 

2010

2011

2015 Goal

% Recycled of Total Fabric Yardage

6%

7%

30%

Here’s a look at how one of our most iconic styles, the Denali fleece jacket, continues to evolve as we introduce improvements each year.  In 2010, the fleece in our solid color Denali jacket was comprised of 87% recycled content Polartec® 300 series fleece. The recycled content was derived from 90% post-industrial waste and 10% post-consumer waste.

The fleece in our 2011 solid color Denali jackets contains 87% recycled content which is comprised of 100% post-consumer waste.  For our 2012 collection, the fleece in our solid color Denali products will consist of 100% recycled content and will be constructed entirely from post-consumer recycled waste. We will use an average of 58.5 plastic bottles to create the polyester fibers for each men’s Denali jacket while each women’s jacket will incorporate approximately 47 plastic bottles.

Footwear

While footwear currently represents a small part of our business, the various materials and processes involved in the construction of our shoes and boots bring unique sustainability challenges. We consider a variety of issues including incorporating recycled content, responsibly sourcing renewable materials such as leather, and eliminating potentially harmful chemicals.

Our biggest achievement in 2010 was completely eliminating polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in this category. We had used PVC in the straps of our men’s and women’s Slippy flip-flops and in some microinjection labels but were able to substitute rubber for both of these applications. Our footwear meets the following standards:

  • 100% PVC-free.
  • 100% recycled PET.
    • This means that all of the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polyester in our footwear is recycled. Our popular Nuptse boots feature 100% recycled PET ripstop material uppers and trim.
  • 100% British Leather Corporation (BLC)-approved leather.
    • While only a small amount of our footwear is made with leather, leather tanning is a chemical-intensive process demanding strict environmental oversight. All of our leather is audited by the BLC (leather testing experts) against the environmental auditing protocol of the industry-leading Leather Working Group (LWG) and must achieve a silver level or higher.

Read on: Renewable Materials