Sustainability Spotlight

Coats publishes 2021 Sustainability Report

  • 03 Mar 2022

Coats, the world’s leading industrial thread company, has today published its 2021 Sustainability Report.

The report, titled ‘Pioneering a Sustainable Future: Accelerating our Journey’ details the progress that has been made against its Sustainability Strategy launched in 2019. The Strategy set out ambitious targets to be achieved by the end of 2022. The progress achieved in 2021 included:

  • 22% reduction in water usage
  • 6.9% reduction in kWh per kilogram of production against a target of 7% by the end of 2022
  • 82% of effluent was compliant with ZDHC against a target of 100% by the end of 2022
  • 83% of employees worked in an accredited ‘Great Place To Work’ exceeding the target of 80%
  • 3% reduction in waste
  • 19% of our sales of premium polyester threads were those made of recycled materials

Rajiv Sharma, Group Chief Executive, said: ‘I am pleased with the substantial progress we have made in 2021 towards delivering our Sustainability targets.

Our commitment to sustainability does not end when we achieve our 2022 targets. As an industry there is a long way to go and Coats has long term ambitions to ensure it will be at the leading edge of pioneering a sustainable future.’

The 2021 Sustainability Report outlines the company’s social impact ambitions including maintaining a workplace where every single employee is free from discrimination, feels respected and is treated fairly and equally and striving to achieve gender parity in all managerial roles, and higher than local labour market representation for all other underrepresented communities at Coats locations.

The report also outlines how the company will reach its ambitious targets for 2030:

  • 70% of global energy consumption will come from renewables
  • All products will be made completely independently of new oil-extraction materials
  • Shift to circularity, creating products and packaging solutions that enable recycling and reuse within our operations and across the wider industry
  • Increased positive social impact

Coats recently received validation of its ambitious climate targets for 2030 by the Science Based Targets initiative. In addition, by 2050 Coats will be carbon neutral through accelerating its progress in water and energy reduction, shifting to more renewable energy and responsible effluent treatment as well as through our materials transition.

Coats recently announced that the Innovation Hub – Asia would have a new mission and be re-purposed to focus on the application of biomaterials. The Hub is being renamed Coats Sustainability Hub and is now fully focused on its new mission.

ENDS


For more information contact:
Kristina Blissett, Director of Group Communications
kristina.blissett@coats.com
T +44 (0) 208 210 5084, M +44 (0) 77145 39887

Notes to Editors

About Coats

Coats is the world’s leading industrial thread company. At home in some 50 countries, Coats has a workforce of over 17,000 people across six continents. Revenues in 2021 were US$1.5bn.

Coats provides complementary and value-adding products, services and software solutions to the apparel and footwear industries. It also applies innovative techniques to develop high technology performance materials threads, yarns, fabrics and composites in areas like personal protection, telecoms, energy, transportation, and household and recreation.

Headquartered in the UK, Coats is a constituent of the FTSE 250 and FTSE4Good Index Series. It is a participant in the UN Global Compact, a member of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, has approved short term Science Based Targets to 2030 and is committed to developing a long-term target to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, the highest level of ambition on climate change under the Science Based Target initiative.

The pioneering history and innovative culture of Coats enable the delivery of its purpose to connect talent, textiles and technology to make a better and more sustainable world.

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