Sustainability, at every step of ours
Sustainability
The increase in the population, the rise of living standards, industrialization and the contribution of technology to production have brought environmental and industrial work environment problems. The acceleration of production with the industrial revolution and the unconscious use of natural resources that have reached the top level in the last 30-40 years have led to the emergence of a new consciousness: Sustainability.
Sustainability defined as “the ability to be sustained” and based on permanence, that is, continuity, aims to use resources as little as possible and thus to achieve the most efficient result. Sustainability covers all the planned and taken steps in the production process, from the use of natural resources to the management of waste resources and, of course, to industrial relations with a human-focused approach.
“In this context, institutions and societies that adopt sustainability as a goal rather than a tool fulfill their responsibilities towards the environment in which they live. Because that is exactly what sustainability is. It reminds us of our responsibilities towards everyone, everything and everywhere, especially the earth we live on, and ensures that we act ethically.”
Sustainability sometimes questions the unnecessary consumption of natural resources and sometimes gets involved in the waste management process. In addition to our responsibilities to nature, it acts with an awareness that is directly related to human and thinks about people, such as the use of people in the workforce and fair remuneration. For this reason, sustainability should not be considered only in terms of nature. Its social dimension is just as important. In addition to the implementation and supervision of basic human rights standards, providing an environment where standards such as education and health are increased is among the social dimensions of sustainability.
Sustainability in Textile
Today, sustainability is a business understanding that has been adopted and applied in many sectors from food to automotive, construction to energy and textiles. Sustainability plays an important role in the textile industry, where many natural resources are used, from cotton to be woven, to the yarn to be used, from the amount of water to be used in production, to electricity.
However, the textile sector, which is directly affected by fashion, is open to fast consumption + more production + more consumption habits, and therefore it is essential to have a sustainability awareness. Otherwise, it can cause depletion of resources. This is where sustainability is in question. Due to its responsibility to future generations and nature, people understand that their environment must protect and discipline themselves in this way. It sets some standards, controls and imposes sanctions so that the next generations can use these resources and that these resources are not depleted.
Sustainability at Polat Textile
Thank to its 20 years of production experience and corporate culture, Polat Textile, which undertakes supplying and producing the world’s leading ready-made clothing brands, aims to continue its success in the sector with sustainable growth. There is a sign of sustainability in every step it takes. Signs of sustainability can be seen in all areas from its investments to research and development projects, employment to social responsibility projects.
At Polat Textile acting with the principle of “social understanding” in production from the past to the present and building the Sustainability Department on this basis, the main goals of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals have come to the fore.
These are human, environment and material.
Human
Human rights, human resources, occupational health and safety, industrial relations, equality, discipline and social projects are discussed.
Environment
Energy, water and waste water, waste, efficiencies, chemical management are meticulously evaluated and recorded.
Material
It provides documentation of raw materials, supply chain, production conditions and final products.
Polat Textile is accredited by international certification bodies in the context of criteria such as sustainability and quality.
Global Organic Textile Standard
GOTS
To reassure the consumer, it guarantees the organicity of textile products from the harvest of raw materials to labeling through environmentally and socially responsible production. Its accreditation is renewed annually.
Organic Content Standard
OCS
It is a worldwide standardized testing and certification system for textile products and raw materials at all relevant processing stages in terms of environmental protection and ecology, the standard of which is implemented by an international independent organization. Certification audits are carried out annually.
Recycled Claim Standard
RCS
It is a standard created for the monitoring and verification of organically grown content in products whose production process has been completed. It is applied to all non-food products containing 5-100% organic material.
Global Recyled Standard
GRS
It is used as a chain of custody standard for tracking recycled raw materials along the supply chain. Its accreditation is renewed with the Recycled Claim Standard after annual inspections and controls.