Today, global athletic leader New Balance announced a range of strategic alliances designed to help support their climate goals and create a healthier planet.
For years, New Balance has been building a strong foundation of sustainability practices through its Responsible Leadership program and is proud to announce a set of bold actions and alliances targeting various aspects of climate change. From pursuing renewable energy across its supply chain to building out its portfolio of environmentally preferred materials and collaborations with sustainability advocates such as Jaden Smith, New Balance is continuously seeking change that creates both short term and long-term impact.
“Sustainability has always been a top priority for New Balance and our commitment to fostering a healthier planet has never been stronger,” said John Stokes, New Balance Head of Global Sustainability. “We need to act with urgency, and our work is further strengthened by like-minded alliances that help extend our reach. Creating and sustaining a healthier planet requires a collective effort and we couldn’t be more excited for the work ahead with some truly incredible individuals and organizations by our side.”
New Balance is further weaving sustainability into its DNA through its continued collaboration with activist and artist Jaden Smith. On April 23, 2021, New Balance and Jaden will release the Vision Racer Reworked, the latest Vision Racer and the first of its kind in this line to be crafted with Spinnex, a partially recycled fiber that incorporates at least 30% factory textile waste.
Responsible Leadership
As part of its overarching Responsible Leadership strategy, New Balance is moving toward a low carbon future with a holistic set of goals between now and 2030:
· Renewable Energy: New Balance will use 100% renewable electricity across its global operations by 2025 and aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030 as a signatory of the UN Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action.
· Longevity and circularity: New Balance aims to send zero waste to landfill from its footwear factories by 2025, and the brand is launching an apparel repair pilot in 2021 as part of their journey to address post-consumer waste and establish greater levels of circularity.
· Lower carbon materials: Polyester and leather are the two largest drivers of climate impact for New Balance. As a first step toward lowering those impacts, the brand will source 50% recycled polyester and 100% preferred leather by 2025.
· Advocacy and conservation: In coordination with 1% for the Planet, through 2021, New Balance will donate 1% of MSRP from all Fresh Foam Hierro v6 sold in the U.S. to 1% for the Planet to benefit organizations working on climate change and public lands. More info: onepercentfortheplanet.org
· Resilience: To support women’s empowerment and foster greater levels of community stability and resilience, New Balance is working toward 100% of women in their footwear factories to benefit from education and skills courses by 2025.