We recognize our products and operations effect the environment. That´s why we are committed to reducing our negative impacts on the climate, water and natural resources through innovative approaches to the design and the manufacture of our materials as well as the way we run our operations.
Responsible behavior has always been a key element of Gore´s culture. We are working hard to strongly influence the industry on key environmental issues such as reducing carbon emissions along the value chain. And we are committed to prolonging the useful life of our products because the greatest environmental impact comes from production.
We will reduce our environmental impact by doing what we do best: innovate new technological solutions and promote responsible consumption by creating durable products that last. Thanks to our extensive reach and industry influence, our sustainability solutions can drive meaningful change to protect the planet.
Since November 2019, all three Gore-owned plants in the US, Germany, and China that manufacture fabrics products are compliant with ISO 14001, a globally accepted standard for environmental management systems.
The three fabrics manufacturing plants use the ‘plan-do-check-act’ management approach of ISO 14001 to achieve continuous improvement for environmental management. Each year the plants perform risk analyses to evaluate their own environmental performance for input (incoming water, electricity, gas, raw materials, chemicals) and output (products, emissions, waste, wastewater, noise, odors) aspects. Based on the results, environmental areas for improvement are selected. For those areas the teams define targets and initiate projects to achieve them.
This ISO 14001 certification emphasizes our commitment to comply with the same high standards, partly going beyond legal requirement, in all plants of our Fabrics Division worldwide – for a smaller environmental footprint and safe working conditions.
Gore is a founding member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), a global organization which represents about 40 percent of the global garment and footwear industry. One of the key activities of the SAC is to develop, promote and use several industry-wide tools, including: the Higg Material Sustainability Index (MSI), the Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM), and the Higg Facility Social & Labor Module (FSLM).