German retailers Aldi North and Aldi South have published a joint Detox progress report that provides comprehensive insights into the development towards a responsible and environmentally compatible textile and shoe production. The company groups Aldi North and Aldi South have been supporting the detox campaign launched by Greenpeace since 2015. 

The aim is to reduce the burden on man and the environment in the production countries by means of chemically intensive production processes in the textile and shoe industry.

"With the Detox progress report, we would like to present to interested stakeholders openly and transparently how we are committed to a more sustainable textile and footwear production," said Rayk Mende, corporate responsibility director at Aldi North. "Together with our business partners, NGOs, industry initiatives, the chemical industry and academia, we are working with high pressure to minimize the environmental impacts in the textile supply chain, the area that can be influenced by us. This was demonstrated not least by the international Aldi Detox summit in Shanghai in November 2016, in which we brought relevant stakeholders together."

The Aldi Detox 2020 strategy includes six fields of action. The Aldi Detox progress report provides a comprehensive and detailed overview from the supply chain and data management, through training and qualification measures, to stakeholder dialogues and the promotion of sustainable consumption. A key objective is to eliminate the use of eleven substance groups, such as chlorobenzene, by 2020 at the latest in textile and shoe production. In 2017, Aldi is aiming to dispense completely with the use of PFCs and APEOs.

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"Our long-term goal is that more sustainable production methods become a matter of course," said Sven van den Boomen, managing director corporate Responsibility International at Aldi South. "Therefore, we are working intensively with numerous supply chain operators to implement this claim. The first results of our work have now been summarised in a Detox progress report. For us, the report is another milestone that shows that we are approaching the goals of our commitment."