Epic Group has won the ‘Best Supplier for Sustainability’ award in recognition of the group’s continuous investment in sustainable manufacturing. Epic Group was chosen for this accolade from the global supply chain of Walmart including leading consumer brands proving that their ethos, ‘Relentless pursuit of better’ is something the group is enacting.
Each year, Walmart Inc. recognises which of its suppliers is making the biggest impact through leaving the least impact environmentally and applauds its assistance in helping Walmart reach its own sustainability goals, the company said.
This year, the award went to Epic Group who produces low water denim jeans for Walmart, which uses a staggering 60 percent less water in the fabric dying, finishing and laundry processes than conventional processes.
“We are delighted for this recognition and even prouder to be the launch partner for Walmart’s sustainability range. We can now boast 4.8 mn garments created from sustainable fibres including, organic cotton, recycled polyester and sustainable manmade cellulose fibres,” Vidhura Ralapanawe, Epic Group’s Head of sustainability.
Independently, Epic Group’s Higg Index score is on schedule to hit 75 by 2023, with their current average score already reaching 63. The group has achieved a 14.7 percent reduction in carbon intensity and a water intensity reduction of 15.3 percent from their 2017 baseline.“With our upgraded effluent treatment solution which reuses 30-50 percent of the manufacturing water, we expect to halve our water intensity figure this year,” said Sunil Daryanani and Dinesh Virwani, Epic Group’s Joint CEOs.
The number of risky chemicals used in operations has also been reduced from 77 to 5. Epic Group is also investing in rooftop solar systems on their factories to further reduce overall emissions. Epic Group’s own upstream supply chain is also carefully monitored through Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM) assessment, and the group works with their supply chain and partners to improve their environmental performance, they added.
