Mud Jeans Reports 42% Cut in Carbon Emissions
Energy efficiency gains at its manufacturing partner helped Mud Jeans lower its carbon emissions by 42 percent year over year in 2022, the company reported last month.
The Dutch company, in its annual sustainability report, said the decrease was “mainly thanks” to a more energy-efficient production process, particularly in sewing and ironing, at its manufacturing partner Yousstex. The drop followed a much more modest decline in emissions the previous year, when its CO2 impact fell by just 3.2 percent compared to 2020.
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In total, Mud created a total carbon impact of 299,510 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent last year, inclusive of Scope 3 supply chain impacts. When including carbon offsets, however, the company has claimed carbon neutrality since 2016.
“We don’t want to make you believe that this means our jeans do not have any CO2 impact,” Mud noted in its report. “Any jeans will still have a CO2 impact during their production. Carbon offsetting can simply remove this impact over time by investing in projects that remove CO2 from the atmosphere.”
On average, a pair of Mud Jeans used 400 liters of water in 2022, a 1.8 percent impact increase from the prior year. It attributed this increase to the inclusion of new data from Calik Denim and Bossa, which both were able to supply “in-depth” data for the first time. Mud said its goal is to collaborate with these suppliers to find ways to reduce water impact further. Compared to 2020, Mud’s water impact had decreased 16 percent.
Mud’s sustainability report also included data on its suppliers and fabrics. To maintain better oversight of its supply chain, the company said, it “consciously” maintains a small supply chain, with three recyclers, three fabric producers and one jeans manufacturer. Most of Mud’s fabrics—84 percent—come from Tejidos Royo, while Bossa and Calik produce 9 percent and 2 percent, respectively. All fabrics then travel to Yousstex, its sole jeans manufacturer.
Nearly all Mud Jeans use a mixture of OCS-certified organic cotton and GRS-certified recycled cotton, with the only exception being a small number of deadstock fabrics. Its total denim production in 2022 consisted of 66 percent organic cotton, 28 percent recycled cotton, 4.5 percent deadstock fabric, 1 percent recycled synthetic fabrics and 0.5 percent hemp. Of the 95.5 percent of Mud Jeans that contain recycled cotton, 29 percent are made with 40 percent post-consumer recycled cotton.
Last year, Mud used 18,363 pairs of recycled jeans in its own production. Though this marked a substantial increase from the year before, when it turned just 11,512 pairs into new jeans, it was still a decrease in the total number of recycled jeans used in production. Including Mud’s 2021 collaboration with Ikea, where it turned old jeans into denim sofa covers, it used 26,872 pairs of recycled jeans in production in 2021. Mud encourages its customers to send in their old jeans—including from other brands—as well. This program collected 3,227 pairs of jeans in 2022.
Mud’s report identified numerous goals it is hoping to accomplish this year. Within circularity, it plans to begin looking into resale options for used Mud Jeans, update its impact comparisons approach, recertify as a B Corp with an increased score “if possible” and increase the use of recycled content. It also introduced new social goals, including launching a justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI) handbook for other businesses and running a webinar with other B Corps to share JEDI best practices.
