Control and monitoring of restricted substances
Restricted substances are those that cause harm, or are suspected to cause harm, to human health or the environment. Our policy is that suppliers must avoid using restricted substances to ensure that our products are environmentally safe.
In 2007 we reviewed and further updated our standards and policies on restricted substances – the ‘A-01 Requirements’ – to make sure they were unified, and we were consistently executing them to the highest standard. The policy was communicated and implemented within the major adidas Group entities and product divisions.
Materials supplied to the adidas Group must meet the strictest local standards globally. We require our suppliers to ensure that:
Materials are non-toxic in use and disposal
Using materials does not cause toxic emissions during the manufacturing process
Products are manufactured under the best possible conditions using the best available technology
Materials meet sourcing retailers’ standards, customer expectations and standards recommended by consumer organisations.
We inform our material suppliers regularly about new scientific findings and developments. They must prove that materials comply with our standards by providing test reports from independent external test institutes on a regular basis. Materials that fail to meet the standards and specifications are rejected and are not used in the products.
In 2007, new high-concern chemicals identified by scientific institutes were included in the policy, as well as necessary procedures regarding test methods, threshold limit values and pre-treatments.
Besides regular policy updates we consulted with external experts and scientists about new legal requirements, requests from consumer groups or critical materials. These consultations resulted in a complete re-design of our policy format. The new format now more effectively serves as a Group policy to all corporate entities, but also provides easier access and guidance to key information for users such as factories and material suppliers. It has also been built into a more user-friendly format that facilitates updates or revisions.
In 2007, we saw a smooth adoption of the standards across major Group entities. The A-01 policy on restricted substances was rolled out to almost 20 business units including licensees and agents. In 2008, we are targeting to roll out the A-01 policy to all business units.
The full text of our policy on monitoring and controlling of restricted substances is posted on our corporate website.
- We updated our standards and policies on restricted substances to make sure they were unified, and we were consistently executing them to the highest standard.