Fast Fashion by Zara

Apparel and footwear production currently accounts for 8.1 percent of global greenhouse gas
emissions, or as much as the total climate impact of the entire European Union (Chua, 2019).
Zara, the flagship brand of the Inditex Group, has gained a reputation as the ultimate
destination for European fashion, with nearly 3000 stores in 96 countries, and billions of
dollars’ worth of profit each year. But just how ethical is Zara? How is this fast fashion giant
impacting people, the planet, and animals? (Dockrill, 2020).

An article published by Dockrill (2020) rated Zara “Not Good Enough” on its environmental
impact. The author highlighted how Zara’s parent company, Inditex, has started a repair and
reuse program called Closing the loop. The program offers customers the opportunity to
drop off their used garments in-store or through the post in order for their clothes to gain a
second life—which is a good initiative. The brand also uses recycled packaging. However,
there is no evidence it minimizes textile waste when manufacturing its products. And,
although Zara has set an absolute target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions generated from
its own operations and supply chain, there is no evidence it is on track to meet its target.
Dockrill later emphasized that Zara’s business model is based on trendy styles and regular
new arrivals, which is inherently harmful to the environment.

In terms of labor, half of the company’s final stage of production is undertaken in Spain (a
medium risk country for labor abuse). Also, the brand received a relatively low score of 51 –
60% in the Fashion Transparency Index (a tool that aims to push major brands to become
more transparent and disclose about their social and environmental policies, practices, and
impacts). Regardless of the low score, Zara is somewhat transparent as it likely
publishes
detailed information about its supplier policies, audits, and remediation processes. Zara also
publishes a detailed list of suppliers in the final stage of production, some information about
the findings of their supplier audits, as well as some information about forced labor, gender
equality, or freedom of association. It also discloses some policies to protect suppliers and
workers in its supply chain from the impacts of COVID-19 (Dockrill, 2020).

Zara’s animal welfare policy is aligned with Five Freedoms (a model designed for animal
protection), which includes a strict ban on fur, angora, and stocking products tested on
animals. However, the company still uses wool, leather, and exotic animal hair, among
others, in its production.

Requirements: Based on the case facts/supplementary research, conduct an environmental

review for Zara. Simply fill in the project outline with the appropriate ratings. Then, provide a
general assessment of the company’s environmental initiatives. Justify your ratings for each
business area.

Overall Environm Likelihood of Problem

Area of business
ental
score occurrence size
hazard
Distribution and transport 1 1 1 1
Management issues and 1 1 1 1
awareness
Legislation 4 2 1 2
Marketplace 5 1 2 2
Waste and discharges 4 2 2 2
Paper and packaging 1 1 1 1
Site management/ Housekeeping 4 2 1 2
Planning/ Development/ Land 1 1 1 1
issues

Product 7 3 2 2
Process 7 3 2 2
Raw materials 9 3 3 3
Water 4 1 1 2
Energy and fuels 3 1 1 1
 Stakeholders 4 1 1 2
Important note: if no pertinent information/data is available on a particular area of business,
simply assign one (1) to its overall score.

General Assessment :
The billion-dollar corporation Zara, a well-known global maker of clothing and shoes, is
currently responsible for 8.1% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, which have a
significant impact on climate change. Dockrill (2020) believes that Zara's environmental
impact is insufficient.
The area that receives the highest rating in the environmental assessment of Zara is raw
materials because, despite their agreement to align with the Five Freedoms animal welfare
policy, which was created to protect animal welfare and forbade the use of animal products
as raw materials, Zara continues to use wool, leather, exotic animal hair, and other animal
products as their raw materials for their products. The Company failed to follow this policy,
which could have a significant impact on animal care in the future and lead to animal
extinction.
The product and method received the second-highest rating. Although Zara does use
recycled materials in the packaging of their products, there is insufficient proof that they
minimize textile waste during the manufacturing process. It appears that Zara is only
misleading their customers about their environmental efforts and recycling efforts by using
recycled materials in their packaging.
In the fashion transparency process, which tries to encourage large brands to become more
open and reveal about their social and environmental policies, practices, and impacts, Zara
obtained a low score of 51-60%. This indicates that Zara's practices, policies, and
environmental impacts are not excellent. Because of this, they were given a low score, and it
is also clear that their environmental policies and practices are poor given that their high
greenhouse gas emissions (8.1%) are equivalent to the entire European Union's climate
effect.