Water consumption in the supply chain

The vast majority of our products are manufactured at sites other than in Tettnang. In contrast to the situation at our headquarters, VAUDE has very little control over how water is dealt with in our upstream external supply chain. 

So far we have no reliable data on water consumption in the supply chain. We have no information on how much water is recycled or reused and which water sources are affected in our supply chain.

Water is needed in textile production in almost all process steps:

• the cultivation of agricultural crops such as cotton
• in the rearing of animals whose wool or feathers are used, such as sheep and geese
• in the production of synthetic fibers such as polyester 
• in all washing and dyeing equipment and processes

As before, there are no legal provisions on the designation of water consumption in the manufacturing of outdoor products.

VAUDE has commissioned independent producers with product manufacturing. We are trying, in fact, to influence the parameters of the materials to be processed in light of conservative use of water such as by using the bluesign® standard.

Nevertheless, we must clearly recognize that our influence has been very limited in the supply chain for water issues thus far. It has not yet been possible to obtain reliable data on water consumption by producers and suppliers that allows a reference point for VAUDE’s final products.

We know that we have an urgent need for action on this issue, both in terms of creating data transparency, as well as water management in the supply chain. We are pursuing these two strategic approaches: the expansion of the bluesign® standard and building a database to compile all environmentally relevant data with the Higg Index (see also “Bluesign®: the strictest standard worldwide” and the “Higg Index”.