AGI Denim Details Sustainability Goals in New Report
Pakistan’s only B Corp recently released its inaugural sustainability report.
AGI Denim outlined its achievements, environmental impact and the actions it’s putting in place to meet targets across its Karachi spinning, denim fabric and garment manufacturing sites. The company, which reported $212 million in FY22-23 sales, has the capacity to produce 55 million yards of denim fabric and 24 million pairs of jeans annually.
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Responsible water management has long been a focus for the 30-year-old vertical manufacturer. It runs effluent treatment plants at three water-intensive production units. In 2021, the zero-wastewater dyeing and finishing technique it developed, Double Zero, was verified by SGS Pakistan.
AGI Denim has swapped out water-hogging conventional washing machines with a higher liquor ratio for rain-forest water efficient machines that consumes 25-38 percent less water than traditional equipment. The machines, which operate with liquor ratios as low as 1:3 and 1:2 while consuming 26 percent less chemicals versus conventional machines, are key to AGI’s goal of cutting freshwater consumption by 80 percent in the next three years. It aims to achieve a net-positive water impact across operations by 2040.
AGI is working toward its goal of achieving net zero GHG emissions operation-wide by 2050. Steps include a carbon sequestration project with WWF Pakistan and adopting cleaner technologies, renewable energy, green infrastructure, and efficient operational management. The company has participated in the Carbon Leadership Program launched by the Apparel Impact Institute, Reset Carbon and other partners, to learn new GHG emissions reduction strategies. It expanded the scope of the program to its garment factory and laundry in 2022.
The company aims to achieve a 50 percent absolute GHG reduction target on Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 by the end of the year.
AGI’s goal for this year is to have sustainable and low-impact materials account for 90 percent of its usage. It increased its uptake of recycled cotton by 9 percent from FY21-22 to FY22-23. Regeneratively farmed Good Earth Cotton, which uses FibreTrace’s luminescent pigments to trace the fiber throughout the production chain, is a key ingredient in AGI’s efforts to reduce its material impact and to ensure traceability.
In 2022, AGI collaborated with product verification firm Oritain to become the first company in Asia to undertake a traceability pilot project to scientifically confirm the country of origin of randomly selected raw material.
The report examines AGI’s social impact as well. Inclusion initiatives include arranging sign language training for employees and collaborating with NOWPDP to ensure that disabled people have access to equitable jobs. Multiple programs support skills development for women, who make up 26 percent of its workforce. Though men hold 92 percent of managerial roles, AGI wants is to achieve gender balance in these positions by 2030.
