Newly-listed Hong Kong-based apparel manufacturing giant Crystal Group is to expand its worker empowerment programme to facilities in Bangladesh and Cambodia – and says it expects all of its wholly-owned factories will have adopted the Higg Index Facility Environmental Module (FEM) 3.0 to measure environmental performance in 2018.
Outlining its commitments in its latest ‘Sustainability Summary Report 2017,’ the company explains the Gap Inc PACE (Personal Advancement and Career Enhancement) project was first launched in 2012 with the promise of advancing the lives of up to 40,000 female workers by 2020. Around 70% of Crystal Group’s workforce is currently made up of women.
The programme consists of modules covering communication, problem solving and decision making, time and stress management, water sanitation, hygiene and health, legal literacy, financial knowledge and execution excellence. In November 2016 it was expanded to male staff for the first time.
Crystal Group expands empowerment project to male staff
In 2016, Gap awarded Crystal the programme license for its commitment in running the initiative, which has so far been introduced to the company’s female workers in China, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. In the coming year, Crystal says it will further expand the programme to its facilities in Bangladesh and Cambodia, and to teenage girls in the communities where the company operates.
“We believe in providing opportunities that enhance both their managerial and their life skills, enabling women to move upwards and to take on bigger roles. By advancing their careers, we empower women to be part of the growth of our company,” the company says.
Global operations
Crystal Group was ranked the world’s largest apparel maker by production volume in 2016 by research firm Euromonitor, and second by production value, with market shares of 0.4% and 0.3% respectively. It employs around 70,000 workers globally, and recorded a turnover of US$1.76bn in 2016 thanks to the production of around 350m pieces of apparel a year.
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By GlobalDataThe company owns and operates a portfolio of 20 apparel manufacturing facilities in Asia, with a focus on delivering lifestyle wear, denim, intimate, sweater, and sportswear and outdoor apparel to global brand customers.
Around 33% of its workforce is based in Vietnam, 29% in China, and 18% in Cambodia. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka employ around 12% and 8% of its workers, respectively.
Meanwhile, the US, Japan and Europe were Crystal’s largest markets in 2016 with the former representing around 35% of revenue. Asia Pacific took the bulk at 40%, and Europe 22%.
Green goals
In 2016 the company continued to invest in improving its environmental and sustainable footprint, pioneering a water-and chemical-less lasering method for bleaching and dry-processing denim jeans.
Crystal has also been working, as part of its five-year targets, to reduce its water and energy usage.
It achieved an 18% energy intensity reduction and a 12% carbon intensity reduction in 2016 compared with the 2012 baseline. The company’s energy consumption, however, did increase in 2016 due to capacity expansion, but its carbon intensity decrease by 18% year-on-year. It also used 7% more renewable energy than the previous year.
Total water use also increased with its production capacity during the year, but Crystal reduced its reliance on fresh water and managed to increase its use of recycled water to 51% across global operations, exceeding its target.
The company, which has been a member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) since 2012, says that by 2018, all Crystal factories will adopt the Higg Index Facility Environmental Module (FEM) 3.0.
In November the group launched a HKD3.82bn (US$490m) initial public offering in Hong Kong – with key customers Fast Retailing and L Brands the cornerstone investors.
The IPO will deliver proceeds of around HK$3.66bn (US$469m) to the apparel maker, which it will invest in growing its garment manufacturing capacity and expanding into fabric production in Asia.
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