Burlington Leads in Transparency and Sustainability Initiatives with Adoption of Higg MSI Tool
Greensboro, NC – Burlington Industries LLC, a division of Elevate Textiles, is thrilled to be among the first to offer its customers access to data on top selling performance fabrics via the Higg Materials Sustainability Index (MSI), the apparel industry’s most trusted tool to measure and score the environmental impacts of materials used in the design and production of garments and footwear.
The Higg MSI tool promotes and supports transparency with access to verifiable data that compares the impact of different materials, such as cotton, polyester, and leather, allowing designers to make more informed product decisions and minimize the environmental impact of new products. The tool measures five environmental impacts for both natural and synthetic materials: chemistry, global warming potential, nutrient pollution in water, water scarcity, and fossil fuel depletion. Through this comprehensive tool, Burlington is able to provide Life Cycle Assessment and comparison data to its customers, providing details of specific materials used in the design of the brand’s fabrics and the associated environmental impact. Burlington is pleased to offer its customers access to this tool, helping them to further their own impact reduction goals through the design of new products.
“We are excited to be among the first to offer this type of innovation, further supporting our customers in designing and creating the most sustainable products,” said Nelson Bebo, Vice President Performance Fabrics at Burlington. “Sustainability is at the forefront of all Burlington operations and developments, and our brand has a strong commitment to minimizing environmental impact. We’re excited for this opportunity to support advancing transparency through tools like the Higg MSI—not only in the realm of sustainability and compliance, but also within our industry. Burlington will continue to seek meaningful industry collaborations as we all drive towards a more sustainable future aligned with our customer needs.”
Burlington has been using the Higg Environmental Module (FEM) since 2017 and has added additional Higg tools since that time, including the Higg Facility Social & Labor Module (FSLM) and Higg MSI. The brand formally joined the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, which created the Higg Index, earlier this year, expanding its participation with the coalition and further advancing its commitment to drive sustainability as a leader within the industry.
“Supply chain transparency and collaboration are required to understand the environmental impacts of specific material and design decisions,” said Joël Mertens, Director, Higg Product Tools. “By sharing customized material information calculated using the Higg MSI, Burlington is enabling their customers to make better product choices and reduce their environmental impacts at scale.”
The Higg Index is an indicator-based suite of tools that measures sustainability performance and drives supply chain transparency and decision-making that enables suppliers, manufacturers, brands, and retailers to better evaluate materials, products, facilities, and processes based on environmental performance, social labor practices, and product design choices.
About Burlington
Celebrating nearly 100 years of textile leadership, Burlington is a global diversified provider of textile solutions across performance & specialty apparel fabrics, active wear, advanced uniform fabrics and technical fabrics. Burlington operates as part of Elevate Textiles, Inc. with worldwide operations in the United States, Mexico and China. To learn more, visit burlingtonfabrics.com or follow us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
About Elevate Textiles
Elevate Textiles is a collection of distinguished global textile brands including American & Efird, Burlington, Cone Denim, Gütermann and Safety Components. With a global array of premium fabric and thread solutions focused on innovation, sustainability and quality craftsmanship, Elevate and its portfolio brands provide products that surround us every day and in all facets of life. We offer advanced, high quality products and mission critical textile solutions across vast industries including fashion and functional apparel, footwear, military, fire, medical, athletic, automotive, aerospace, outdoor, and other specialty sectors. Elevate is committed to delivering solutions that protect and enhance our lives through its global manufacturing platform. To learn more about Elevate Textiles and our brands, visit elevatetextiles.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
