Levi's
CASE STUDY
Created by Redress
Levi’s
Levi’s first conducted an LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) on some of their key products in 2007 because they wanted to identify where the highest environmental impacts were, and to develop and evaluate their existing sustainability strategies.
In this case study, see how Levi’s identified their waste hotspots across the supply chain. Not only did they significantly reduce their environmental impact across the product’s life cycle, it also led to new industry standards and innovative solutions towards cleaner denim.
Image credit: Levi’s
Image credit: Levi’s
Image credit: Levi’s
In the process, they discovered that cotton cultivation and consumer care have the biggest impacts when it comes to water and energy use during the lifespan of clothing.
Since discovering this, Levi’s have invested in and have been able to make huge progress in addressing the areas of environmental impact within their control. In doing so, they have saved one billion litres of water! They achieved this water saving through Water<Less™ processes, which are a series of innovative finishing techniques developed so that the brand could continue to create the same styles, but with far less water. For example, traditionally, softener is applied to denim garments in a wet bath, to achieve a softer feel to the touch. Now, through the spray softener technique which Levi’s have developed, undiluted softener can instead be applied in a tumble dryer with a spray which has reduced the use of water dramatically in the process.
They have also saved 30 million litres of fresh water through a water reuse standard (called the ‘Water Recycling and Reuse Standard’), which Levi’s shared to their vendors to encourage preservation of fresh water. They also recently made public their water reduction standards and tools, and are encouraging other companies to adopt them in the hope of a rapid reduction of water usage across the fashion industry.
Levi’s released another LCA study in 2015 which expanded on their previous research to better understand the impact of cotton cultivation. It also analysed consumer care data from different countries to further understand ways to reduce the environmental impact.
The results of this study are helping Levi’s and others in the apparel sector to take more effective and holistic approaches to reduce the environmental impact of all garment life cycles.
This LCA also inspired Levi’s to create a campaign to educate customers about their own impacts and how to reduce water usage. This includes an online LCA quiz with suggestions for changes and information such as, “washing every ten times a product is worn instead of every two times, reduces energy use, climate change impact and water intake by up to 80%.”