How do we measure all the good (and the not so good yet) that we do as a sustainable business?

The sustainability report is that glorious and laborious report that sustainable businesses put out at a regular interval, often once a year. While sustainability reporting is currently on a voluntary basis—though we want to make it clear that we view it as our basic responsibility—we have done our best to standardise how we report so that we don’t leave anything out, so we are understood in our communication of it, so we develop an ability to uphold and track our progress over time, and so that anyone can compare our progress to the industry as a whole.

How Our Report is Shaping up for 2022:

Denim Privé’s report was developed per GRI Standards, aligns with SASB standards and metrics, and links to several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

We developed this report following the GRI's Reporting Principles for defining report content: Materiality, Stakeholder Inclusiveness, Sustainability Context, and Completeness. We then carefully applied these GRI principles to our sustainable management processes.

We align ourselves with the global environmental and social outlook issued by the United Nations in their Sustainable Development Goals. They highlight water shortage, climate change, and industrial pollution as potential crises and focus areas for a more sustainable planet. We support the advancement of these goals, continuously working to minimise the effect of our products on the environment and society.

Global Reporting Initiative is an independent, international organisation that provides a common global language for businesses to communicate their impacts on the world. Denim Privé uses GRI Standards to show how our business is performing in a comparable way. 

Sustainable Accounting Standards Board is yet another standards-setting organisation that Denim Privé leverages to properly disclose sustainability risks and opportunities. Such as, management of chemical products, environmental impacts in the supply chain, and labour conditions in the supply chain.

Measuring and communicating impact

The science behind sustainability claims is best encapsulated by a sustainability report. A sustainability report is a measure of a company’s impact and proves a useful tool to improve across the different areas. It is also a means of communicating to the world where a brand stands. Denim Privé has published its second yearly sustainability report and is committed to driving progress day in and day out. Below we highlight Denim Privé’s sustainability metrics. We’ve divided up the metrics by the three buckets of climate, consumption, and community because they embody a view of our responsibilities. 

2022 Sustainability Report Highlight

Climate 

• Denim Privé aims to be carbon neutral by 2030, with a target of reducing our carbon footprint (relative to production) by 50% by 2027 (compared to our 2019 baseline).
• Our 1,609 kW onsite Solar Farm currently powers 97% of our total electrical consumption with clean, renewable energy during peak daylight hours. In 2022, our Solar Farm produced 2,044,537 kWh. We are expanding the installation with an additional 2,490 kW of capacity, which will generate an estimated 165% of our electrical consumption with renewable electricity during peak daylight hours (providing excess generation to the grid) and 80% of our total electrical consumption by the end of 2023.
• Percent of total electrical consumption provided by solar farm during peak daylight hours in 2022: 97%.
• First LEED Platinum manufacturing facility in Pakistan.
• Committed to carbon neutrality by 2030.
• 5% reduction in GHG emission per piece in 2022.
• Denim Privé’s GHG emission per piece, GHG intensity, went down from 1.435 kgCO²e/pc in 2021 to 1.369 kgCO²e/pc in 2022. In 2027, the target is 0.6665 kgCo²e/pc.
• SAC Higg Index Participant.

Consumption

• In 2022, the amount of water used per piece went down by 17% compared to 2019.
• The percentage of treated wastewater that was successfully discharged relative to the total wastewater produced was 94.4% in 2022, a considerable increase compared to the 2019 baseline of 86.2%.
• Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) compliant.
• 83% of our cotton was sourced from Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) farmers in 2022. Our target is to increase that share to 100% by 2023.
• Screened chemistry increased to 16% in 2022. It was not tracked before 2022 due to the scope of the previous version of ZDHC. The goal is to increase to 20% by 2023.

Community

• 3,734 employees as of December 2022.
• 458 new team members were hired over the course of 2022.
• 53% of total new hires were female in 2022.
• 30 women enrolled in Lifelong Learning Initiative.
• 100% of our employees are properly trained and covered by the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Committee.
• Denim Privé provides funding for free medical clinics and schools throughout the city of Karachi for our employees, their families, and residents.
• Benefits include free transport, social security, pension payments, and subsidised food at our cafeteria to full-time permanent Denim Privé employees.
• 100% of our employees are located in Pakistan, with the exception of a few sales agents and designers.
• All Denim Privé employees have access to our in-house Health Centre, where experienced doctors and paramedical staff are available to treat our employees.
• Denim Privé enrols our employees at the Employee Old Age Benefit Institution (EOBI) and contributes every month.
• Denim Privé enrols employees at the Sindh Employees' Social Security Institution (SESSI) and contributes monthly to support the labour class with benefits such as medical care facilities and cash benefits for workers and their dependents.
• Denim Privé follows the local provincial "The Sindh Factories Act 2016" for work environment standards.