China’s strengthening of environmental supervision will be beneficial in the long run to reversing the internalisation of pollution control costs along the entire production chain, and will ultimately make green supply chain development become an essential choice for successful enterprises. The textile industry in general is adopting greener, more sustainable methods in its overseas supply chains.

A particularly large proportion of environmental efforts comes from manufacturers in the textile industry. Brands like Levi Strauss, Adidas, Marks & Spencer, Gap and Puma are those implementing greener supply chain methods. There has been an increase in the number of environmental investigations in manufacturing facilities.

Textile manufacturers are adopting new treatment methods in chemical and auxiliary management as well as wastewater treatment. Seven brands, which include Marks & Spencer and Levi Strauss, have deployed new wastewater management facilities and hazardous wastewater treatment plants.

These are some of the findings of the Corporate Information Transparency Index (CITI). Of the 267 brands assessed, apparel manufacturing giants including Levi Strauss, Adidas, Gap and Puma were named within the top ten contributors.

Developed in collaboration by the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs and the Natural Resources Defense Council, CITI is the world’s first quantitative evaluation system of the supply chains utilised in China by manufacturers across industry.