A global leader in sustainable apparel explains how adopting the Higg Index is helping to drive change
When the Colombo-based global enterprise Hirdaramani Group opened its state-of-the-art green apparel manufacturing facility almost a decade ago, it pioneered the first Carbon Neutral® certified facility in Asia and launched a journey toward becoming a leader in sustainable manufacturing in Sri Lanka. One of the most important support pillars in this important initiative? The SAC’s Higg Index tools.
Hirdaramani Group knew that Sri Lanka had made great strides in sustainable apparel manufacturing, but that significant challenges remained—like safely disposing of waste from synthetic or blended materials as well as from hazardous materials and combatting disruptive floods from changing weather patterns. So it pledged to build on the success of its groundbreaking green factory and expand sustainability initiatives to all its existing facilities using the Higg suite of tools to assess and improve environmental and social-labor impacts.
The Hirdaramani Group quickly forged an enduring relationship with the Higg Index. By benchmarking performance against other companies, the Higg Index helped Hirdaramani’s senior management gain the confidence to support sustainability initiatives. By facilitating knowledge sharing with other companies, the Higg Index made the process of meeting targets swifter and more streamlined, and helped Hirdaramani avoid unnecessary pitfalls.
As more of Hirdaramani’s brand and retail customers began using the Higg Index themselves, having these frameworks well-established and running smoothly across the manufacturing facilities synchronized both sides around a common goal: producing products with positive impact on people and the planet.
Hirdaramani became one of the earliest adopters of the Higg Facility Environmental Module and the Higg Facility Social & Labor Module, which played a key role in developing the group’s efficacy.
Today the enterprise has channeled its experience with the Higg Index and the expertise gained from SAC membership into visionary endeavor called The Hirdaramani Sustainability Strategy, which includes a gamut of centrally driven and quantifiably measured environmental and workforce policies.
From its multiple initiatives to ensure employee safety, equality, health, and education to its “Golden Crop” program that educates and supports farmers to adopt organic practices, Hirdaramani Group is embodying a better way of doing business—one that it knows will help other apparel leaders take their own steps to building a more sustainable industry.
Demith Gooneratne,
Manager – Environmental Sustainability Hirdaramani Group
SAC Member Type: Manufacturer
www.hirdaramani.com
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