Kontoor Brand Surpasses Goal Of Saving 10bn Litres Freshwater
Owner of iconic denim brands Lee and Wrangler, Kontoor Brands has surpassed its 2025 water savings goal of saving over 10 billion litres of freshwater since 2008, two years ahead of schedule.
The goal was reached under an accelerated timeline due to Kontoor’s focus on the implementation of the organisation’s Indigood Program.
The Indigood Program is a global initiative that focused on a foam-dyeing technology that reduces freshwater consumption in the dyeing process by up to 90 percent compared to conventional indigo dyeing.
Since the expansion of the program in 2021 to include other technologies and water saving measures, Kontoor has partnered 30 mills to measure and validate their freshwater conversation claims.
“The Indigood Program is designed to set a global standard for water savings validation, a process that is disparate across the industry today,” Kontoor Brands said in a press release.
“It is no secret that our industry uses a lot of water. Globally we are seeing climate change put pressure on the earth’s diminishing freshwater resources, making it imperative that the entire industry act now,” CEO Scott Baxter said.
“The fact that Kontoor reached our water savings goal two years early is a testament to our commitment to sustainability and to the effectiveness of the Indigood Program,” he added.
“I am proud of the work we are doing to save water and move towards a future where all jeans can be created using zero freshwater,” Baxter observed
In addition to expanding the Indigood program, Kontoor has also deployed water-savings technologies at its own manufacturing facilities, which produce more than 50 million units of apparel and accessories each year.
The company’s Torreon, Mexico plant was third-party verified as using zero fresh water in its laundry process, saving an estimated 250 million litres of water each year.
In a city surrounded by desert, the Torreon facility is not only limiting its freshwater use, but also using wells on its property to provide fresh water to the municipal government.
