For a better world

The restaurant industry is careful about what is happening on the plate. Organic and near-produced is the future. At Segers we are equally carefull about what you have on while working. Historically, textile production has been a burden on nature, people and the environment. In order to take great¬er responsibility and lead development towards a more environmentally friendly textile industry, Segers actively works with environmental issues.

Toxic chemicals, precarious employment and unsustainable production methods. Certain segments of the textile industry have an unfortunate history and there is much to be done to make things 100% sustainable. However, the industry also boasts many players who are working actively to take responsibility for the environment and sustainability. Segers is one of them.

Attitudes to human rights and healthy working conditions vary hugely at factories around the world. Here at Segers we accept social responsibility for contributing to a fairer world – and for ensuring that you can wear our workwear with a clear consistence. The garments you are wearing have been produced at Segers’ own factories in Estonia and Ukraine. By owning our own factories we can personally guarantee that our employees are well treated and that you as a customer are free to visit our factories at any time to see how we manage our environmental and social responsibility.

Always satisfactory conditions
Our employees work in light, clean and hygienic premises with good heating and ventilation. They have the right to their entire wage even if the order books aren’t full. Normal 40-hour working weeks are standard and everyone receives remuneration for overtime, 28 days’ paid holiday, plus pension and insurance contributions. One of our CSR projects involves sponsoring the local music school at our production unit in Ukraine. This has nothing to do with our production activities, but it is important to the local community. We have been promoting the concept of a good working environment for many years, by virtue of Segers’ own code of conduct. However, from 2017 we will be moving on from the code of conduct and instead joining amfori BSCI, which is one of the world’s largest sustainability initiatives for creating more responsible supply chains. Amfori BSCI is run by the Foreign Trade Association (FTA) in Brussels. It has around 2,000 member companies that each apply the same code of conduct to improve working environment conditions around the world. Our production process will be inspected by an independent institution on behalf of amfori BSCI in order to guarantee a sustainable working environment.

Assistance in interpreting environmental legislation
 We also do everything in our power to comply with the EU’s chemicals legislation (REACH). This legislation includes the EU’s list of hazardous chemicals (Substances of very high concern/SVHC). The SVHC list is constantly changing and when new chemicals end up on the warning list, it can be difficult for our suppliers to keep up. This is why Segers, together with an external consultant, has created a tool to help suppliers focus on which chemicals are considered to be hazardous, and also keep up to date with substances used in a button or zip, for example, supplied to our factories.
 We are also currently developing a system to communicate and ensure that our suppliers have procedures to test the products they provide to us. Segers takes random samples to check that no prohibited and regulated substances remain in the products.
As a member of the Chemicals Group at Swerea IVF, Segers receives continuous updates on any legislative changes. We are also participating in research projects to be able to replace products that are hazardous to the environment and to human health.
Segers is also looking at alternative solutions for a more sustainable world. For example, cotton growing needs huge amounts of water and is an unsustainable strain on the environment. So, we are looking into how Tencel® (lyocell), for example, can work as a more eco-friendly alternative. We already have several garments in our range made with Tencel®.

 Please feel free to contact us if you have any more questions!