Riopele is the 1st national non-woven textile company to join the Higg Index

As part of the extension of the sustainability strategy, promoted by the Administration, Riopele decided to adopt the Higg Index, a tool developed by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, which aims at measuring the company's level of sustainability and benchmarking among peers, through a set of tools common to the value chain, facilitating transformative changes in the textile and clothing industry.

As a result of the verification carried out, based on the FEM environmental module, Riopele, in comparison with the approximately 1400 companies in the sector, maintains a level that is well above the world average concerning the seven aspects of this assessment standard, having obtained the highest classification (level 3) in the Water Conservation, Energy Management and Atmospheric Emissions ( Production Processes) aspect.

Led by the Sustainability department, with the support of the Quality, Environment and Safety and Maintenance and Energy teams, the face-to-face verification took place over three days last October, and in addition to the documentary and operational analysis, several interviews were also carried out with employees from the Purchasing, Chemical Products, Maintenance and Finishing areas.

In order to achieve the highest classification in all areas, priorities for improvement have been identified, which aim at changing measurement practices in the assessment of sustainability risks, which in turn will enable a new level of confidence and business excellence to be consolidated soon.

Given the standardisation and cross-sectorally, fashion and clothing brands are expected to use the Higg Index in the very near future to assign an environmental impact classification to textile products, and their supply chains, similar to what is used in the energy class of household appliances.