To date, 23 of the company’s manufacturing facilities have earned the honour, helping the company reduce energy use, as well as the corresponding greenhouse gas emissions that result from energy use. To earn Challenge for Industry status, manufacturing plants must reduce their energy use by 10% within a five-year period.

Challenge honours

Located in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Thailand and Vietnam, the latest five company plants to achieve Challenge honours have benefited from a coordinated companywide energy management initiative and employee-driven energy-saving ideas, as well as investments in technological improvements, including advanced heat recovery, air conditioning and compressed air systems, the company reports.

“The employees at all five plants should be commended for their success in reducing energy use and protecting the environment,” the EPA’s Jean Lupinacci, director of the Energy Star commercial and industrial branch, wrote in award letters to each of the plants.

Responsible environmental practices

Unlike most apparel marketers, Hanes owns the substantial majority of its manufacturing supply chain and can make a significant contribution to responsible environmental practices. Since 2007, the company has reduced its energy use by 23%, its carbon emissions by 25% and its water use by 31%. More than a quarter of the company’s worldwide energy use is said to come from renewable sources such as hydro, geothermal and biomass.

“Sound environmental practices make good business sense, although achievement requires significant planning and effort,” said Kurt Schwalbe, Hanes director of engineering and energy management.

“We are proud of our organization’s commitment to environmental practices from the executive suite to the plant floor. That’s why we are the only apparel company to be a multiyear sustained excellence award winner from EPA Energy Star.”

HanesBrands

HanesBrands, based in Winston-Salem, NC, is a socially responsible leading marketer of everyday basic innerwear and activewear apparel in the Americas, Europe and Asia under some of the strongest apparel brands, including Hanes, Champion, Playtex, DIM, Bali, Maidenform, Flexees, JMS/Just My Size, Wonderbra, Nur Die/Nur Der, Lovable and Gear for Sports.

The company sells T-shirts, bras, panties, shapewear, underwear, socks, hosiery, and activewear produced in the company’s supply chain. Hanes has approximately 65,300 employees in more than 40 and is the only apparel producer to ever be honoured by the Great Place to Work Institute for its workplace practices in Central America and the Caribbean.

www.hanes.com