“Materials account for 42% of VF’s total CO2 impacts—our largest single impact, and greatest opportunity area across the business.”

The extraction and manufacturing of raw materials are VF’s single-largest environmental impact. Recognizing that our material choices will drive the achievement of our science-based targets, we’re using data to inform our raw material choices, prioritizing materials with lower—or even positive—carbon impacts. Our Global Innovation Network focuses their research and development on lower-impact material options.

Reducing or eliminating our impact is far from straightforward, not least due to the fact that there are many trade-offs to consider. That’s why our new sustainable materials vision includes a comprehensive approach to sourcing more sustainable materials.

The new sustainable materials vision is focused on the following three key areas:

• Regeneration: Materials produced using regenerative agriculture or grazing practices
• Renewables: Responsibly sourced renewable materials naturally regenerate in a human’s lifetime and have been vetted for responsible production of feedstocks and processing methods
• Recycling: Materials made from discarded items that are recycled into usable raw materials

Across our brands, we seek to source the most sustainable materials available that meet and exceed the demands of our consumers. One option is not the solution for all product requirements.

For VF, this means using responsibly sourced natural materials, as well as identifying innovative ways to recycle and reuse the synthetic materials already out in the world. It also means exploring innovative crossover solutions, such as natural alternatives to traditional synthetics or recycled natural materials.